Among the pebbles and shells scattered along the Kent, UK coastline, a particular stone caught the eye of designer Nina Tolstrup while she was out walking with friends last summer. Its shape was strangely familiar, like a miniature vase from the Ming dynasty. 'We all stopped for a moment to take in its beauty,' recalls Jack Mama, who runs London-based design studio Studiomama with Tolstrup. 'This drew me to look more closely at the stones we were walking on. It wasn’t long before I spotted another stone and picked it up; it looked remarkably like a seal. I knew instantly that there were more stone animals to be found.'
