Photo: Courtesy

Signed by designer Tiarra Bell, the Well Collection transforms the biblical story of Joseph and the Well of Dothan into an oak furniture and lighting series.

By Samuel Navarro Serpa

PHILADELPHIA – Two Philadelphia studios, Bellafonté Studio and XYZ Research & Design, created the Well Collection, an oak furniture collection and lighting series by designer Tiarra Bell. Inspired by the biblical story of Joseph and the Well of Dothan, the collection explores how suffering, faith and purpose can be translated into material form.

Photo: Courtesy

Furniture and lighting share top billing: a console, a coffee table, a wall sconce, a chair, a family of three lights with wooden shades and the Empire floor lamp. Bellafonté Studio and XYZ Research & Design developed the collection together. Ren Valentine Studio, also based in Philadelphia, designed the chair, while XYZ Research & Design is responsible for Empire. Each piece is custom designed and produced, with other sizes and finishes available upon request. Dimensions range from 18 inches (46 centimeters) wide for the table lamp to roughly 8 feet (2.5 meters) tall for the largest floor model, while the console measures about 40 inches (1 meter) long.

According to the biblical account, Joseph was thrown into a well by his brothers at age 17, sold into slavery and taken to Egypt. Thirteen years later, his gift for interpreting dreams elevated him to the second-most-powerful position in Egypt, after the pharaoh. His journey becomes a central image for the collection: a well, associated with betrayal and captivity, becomes a catalyst for destiny. Bell and her collaborators present the series as a statement about finding purpose through pain and maintaining hope amid suffering.

In formal language, discretion prevails. Natural wood evokes the hand-wrought stones surrounding Joseph’s Well in Dothan, the site that inspired the work. Black paint adds contrast, while rhythmic arches, concentric cutouts and curved legs keep the geometry clean and sculptural. Faith supplies the narrative, and restraint delivers the form.

Four pieces anchor the collection. The console’s legs form a sequence of repeated arches that support a narrow tabletop of solid red oak, painted black on the underside. Exposed dowel joints and preserved knots give each piece its own character.

Photo: Courtesy

All the lamps share a cylindrical shade of oak veneer with visible grain, supported by two semicylindrical legs in solid oak separated by a wooden spacer.

Photo: Courtesy

Empire, a freestanding piece about 8 feet (2.5 meters) tall, has a fluted, translucent body that recalls classical columns, set on a sculptural base in a contrasting material. It is dimmable.

Finally, the 4-foot (1.2-meter) sconce incorporates an LED channel into solid oak. It ships with a plug but can also be hard-wired.

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Bell treats her pieces as vehicles for ideas. “I am interested in making furniture that does not only focus on aesthetics but rather creating a body of work that tells a story and communicates a message,” she writes in a text about her practice.

Conviction of this kind explains why the collection takes the Bible as its starting point. “I express the inexpressible by using my Biblical beliefs as a premise for my artistic expression,” Bell adds, describing a process that turns words, ideologies and ethics into objects that can be plainly seen and touched.

Her exhibition history includes The New Guard at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Milan Design Week 2022 and Do It (Home), with curator Hans Ulrich Obrist.

Collectible design increasingly draws interest to objects that carry a narrative, and this collection makes its story explicit. By linking Scripture to red oak, ash and wood veneer, it joins a broader conversation about meaning in domestic space, where craft, material honesty and personal belief compete for attention with trends.

The approach also resonates with a broader New York design environment, where furniture, craft and contemporary design increasingly intersect across international markets.

Method also matters. Traditional woodworking and machining technology operate side by side, delivering precision without erasing the artisan’s hand. For an emerging designer, the line shows how narrative-driven work can find a place in the market.

Rarely does a piece of furniture ask to be read, and the Well Collection extends that invitation. Its oak arches, luminous shades and discreet joinery suggest that places made to confine us can also shape what we build afterward, and that a household object can sustain a story as firmly as it holds up a lamp.

Learn more about Bellafonté Studio and the Well Collection on the studio’s website.