Enter La Faïencerie de Charolles, push the doors of the workshop and let yourself be transported by 176 years of history. Years have passed, yet the actions remain the same.
8 earthenware makers painstakingly perpetuate each of the movements of their elders, mastering the ancestral art of the Manufacture to perfection.
A historical know-how, exclusively manual, from working with clay to coloring.
To begin with, observe the remarkable work of the plaster mold maker, based on the designs of the designers.
The creation is poured inside, unmolded, it is stored in the open air in the aisles of the workshop, offering an extraordinary spectacle, made up of 1001 astonishing shapes.
The clay will acquire an ideal texture, perfectly resistant to the first firing at 1030 ° C in a gas oven, from which the “biscuit”, terracotta and porous, will come out, which will then be glazed with a spray gun, with carefully colored colors. selected.
A second firing at 980 ° C will fix the enamel and the decoration. For precious enamels, such as Gold, Silver, Mercury, Copper, a third firing is necessary.This process makes the production very uncertain and sometimes, when opening the oven, the disappointments are great. This is the whole “game” of this craft which does not meet any precise rule. This is also what makes a ceramic piece so unique and steeped in history.
At the Faïencerie de Charolles, there are more than 150 shades, dressing the collections according to the seasons. Imagine these decorative objects sprinkled with a celestial blue, a soft pink, a water green, a pale gray, or a brilliant copper, stored on the shelves waiting to be packed. The show is fantastic.
An alchemy of colors that gives birth to real works of art, under the skillful and talented fingers of our craftsmen.
Vase, light, table, each piece is unique, hand-crafted, borrowing from the soul of our old faience makers.
The centuries pass, the know-how remains intact. The Manufacture perpetuates the cultural heritage of artisanal ceramic production. FdC, certified Living Heritage Company.
The Faïencerie de Charolles workshop is above all a place of transmission and exchange. An association of natural materials and know-how. Earth, clay, precious enamels, mix. Traditional and ancestral gestures are expressed, perfected, shared.
Contrary to popular belief, ceramics have not fallen into disuse. On the contrary, this ancestral know-how, these precise gestures, by hand, this technique of spectacular precision is coming back in force and seducing more than ever. Decoration enthusiasts recognize and admire the work of clay, the mastery of the potter’s wheel and that of baking. Ceramics is even sometimes called the “yoga of the hands”. It is indeed a dance that we see in the workshops of the Faïencerie de Charolles. A dance of the hands, experts, who meticulously perform gestures from another time. Tables, vases, lights are meticulously crafted one by one, making them unique pieces, which carve a great place in trendy interiors. Earthenware is the cradle of this artistic profession, major player in ceramics in France. The hashtag #ceramics has over 2 million hits on Instagram. It’s your turn to post the Glouglou fish, the rabbit, the teddy bear or the ceramic polar bear from the Iconographic collection. Key pieces of earthenware, which have survived the ages, and remain the key element of traditional, modern or contemporary decoration, true representatives of a French art of living. Colors, nuances… Our designers and our craftsmen work hand in hand to produce objects and pieces of furniture that create emotion, borrowed from poetry and delicacy. Key pieces of earthenware, which have survived the ages, and remain the key element of traditional, modern or contemporary decoration, true representatives of a French art of living. Colors, nuances… Our designers and our craftsmen work hand in hand to produce objects and pieces of furniture that create emotion, borrowed from poetry and delicacy. Key pieces of earthenware, which have survived the ages, and remain the key element of traditional, modern or contemporary decoration, true representatives of a French art of living. Colors, nuances… Our designers and our craftsmen work hand in hand to produce objects and pieces of furniture that create emotion, borrowed from poetry and delicacy.