BRAND · HÖHR-GRENZHAUSEN, GERMANY · EST. 1976
ASA-SELECTION
The art of
considered living.
Six curated ranges from Portugal, Japan, and beyond.
Clear shapes. Clear colours. Simple things are beautiful.
ABOUT ASA-SELECTION
Purism with poetry. The philosophy of simple, beautiful things.
ASA-Selection was founded in 1976 by designer Yvonne Schubkegel in Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany; the heartland of German ceramic tradition. Her founding philosophy was disarmingly simple: clear shapes and clear colours. When she first presented her designs to regional manufacturers, the answer was unanimous. “That’s not possible. We’ve never done it like this before.” She found one factory willing to try. The rest followed.
Today, ASA-Selection is a second-generation family business present in more than 80 countries, with three exclusive manufacturing partners in Portugal producing the pieces that Nona International carries. These are not transactional relationships. Some have run for over three decades; long enough for mastery, and for the kind of trust that produces work that cannot be replicated by a brief.
The philosophy has not changed. ASA-Selection does not pursue perfection or singular masterpieces. It pursues the everyday object done with absolute clarity; a bowl that earns its place on the counter, a glass that feels right before the drink is poured.
“Simple things are beautiful;the beautiful resides in the simple.”
— Yvonne Schubkegel, Founder, ASA-Selection
THE ASA DIFFERENCE
A family business. Four decades of ceramic expertise.
Made in Portugal
Three exclusive manufacturing partners in Portugal, some working with ASA for over 30 years. Every piece made by people whose families have been in ceramics for generations.
Clear shapes. Clear colours.
The founding philosophy has not changed in 50 years. Unconventional and unfussy, with a feel for the zeitgeist that never sacrifices utility for novelty.
Award-winning design
German Brand Award 2025 for successful brand leadership. Multiple international design awards across tableware, glassware and home accessories.
MADE IN PORTUGAL
Thirty years of craft. The same hands. The same families.
Every piece in the ASA-Selection range carried by Nona is produced in Portugal, in small family ceramics workshops whose knowledge of the material has been passed down across generations. The designs are developed in Germany; the mastery that brings them to life is entirely Portuguese.
It is a collaboration built on decades of trust — and that trust is visible in every piece. In the quality of the glaze, the consistency of the form, and the small marks of the hand that distinguish handmade from merely manufactured.
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ASA-SELECTION AT NONA INTERNATIONAL
Six ranges. Chosen for clarity, craft and character.
From Portuguese stoneware to Japanese-inspired ikebana vessels and hand-blown glass; each range chosen because it passes the same test: does it belong on this table?
01
Portugal · ASA-Selection · Stoneware
Saisons
Minimalist design language. Innovative effect glazes. Each piece appears handcrafted.
The Saisons collection appears at first glance like something thrown and hand-finished on a wheel; and that impression is entirely deliberate. ASA-Selection has developed a stoneware finish that mimics the irregularity of craft production while delivering the consistency required for daily use. The effect glazes shift subtly across each piece, meaning no two tables set with Saisons look quite the same. Dishwasher and microwave safe. A range designed to look better on the table the longer it is used.
02
Germany · ASA-Selection · Cups & Mugs
Coppa
Asia meets Italy. A name meaning ‘cup’. A form that is immediately familiar.
Coppa is the name ASA-Selection gave to a collection whose design logic is Asian in origin and Italian in nomenclature; ‘coppa’ meaning cup in Italian. The collection is built around hollow forms: cups, mugs, bowls and glasses whose curves trace back to the original vessel, reduced to its essentials. The result is tableware that feels immediately familiar in the hand and completely considered on the shelf. Available in a restrained palette that works with everything.
03
Portugal · ASA-Selection · Stoneware
Poké
Handmade in Portugal. Small irregularities that mark each piece as genuinely made.
Poké is stoneware in the truest sense of the word; heavy, warm, tactile, and marked by the hands that made it. Each piece is handmade in Portugal, and the small variations between pieces are not incidental: they are the signature of genuine craft production. The collection was developed around the Poké bowl trend, but its forms are purposely more restrained than the name suggests; deep bowls and plates with the quiet authority of something that has always existed.
04
Germany · ASA-Selection · Hand-Blown Glass
Sarabi
Mouth-blown. Softly coloured. Round forms that sit harmoniously in the hand.
Sarabi is ASA-Selection’s hand-blown glassware collection; pieces made with coloured glass worked into round, soft forms that feel immediately comfortable to hold. The name refers to a quality of harmony, and the collection earns it: carafes, tumblers and wine glasses in a palette of understated tones that work with candlelight as well as they do in daylight. Each piece is mouth-blown, which means slight variation is inherent and expected. That is not a flaw. It is the evidence of the process.
05
Portugal · ASA-Selection · Ikebana Vessels
Moribana
Flowers in full bloom. The Japanese art of Ikebana, interpreted in Portuguese stoneware.
Moribana means ‘flowers in full bloom’ in Japanese, and refers to a distinct style within the Ikebana tradition; the art of flower arrangement where blooms are placed at deliberate heights and angles to create compositions, not bouquets. Each Moribana vessel is hand-thrown on the potter’s wheel in Portugal, with skilled turning ridges visible across the surface. The matte glazes are intentionally restrained; designed to support the arrangement, not to compete with it.
06
Germany · ASA-Selection · Hand-Blown Glass Vases
Ajana
‘The beautiful flower’. Mouth-blown coloured glass, mastered into clean lines.
Ajana means ‘the beautiful flower’ in Ethiopian, and the collection lives up to its name; cylindrical vases in mouth-blown, coloured glass whose clarity of line makes any arrangement inside them the undisputed focus. Available in smoky grey and warm amber, each piece has a notably thick base that gives it exceptional stability and a sculptural weight on any surface. Used without flowers, Ajana pieces are objects in their own right. The amber colourway is particularly suited to dried arrangements.
Headquarters
Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany· Est. 1976
Craft tradition
Hand-thrown, hand-blown and hand-finished · Nearly every piece a unique item
Global reach
Present in 80+ countries · REACH-compliant glazes across all ranges
Recognition
German Brand Award 2025 · Multiple international design awards
EXPLORE THE RANGE
All ASA-SELECTION.
All at NONA INTERNATIONAL.
Six ranges from Portugal and beyond; available in-store at Sandton Gate Central and online.
Simple things are beautiful. The beautiful resides in the simple.
— ASA-Selection brand philosophy, since 1976