Every day, the Manufacture presents new “hand-made” creations, shaped by eight passionate artisans: Nathalie, Aurélie, Gloria, Béatrice, Joao, Yannick, Jean-Pierre and Cyril. Works produced using gestures of infinite precision, the same as those of Hippolyte, a native of the country, creator of Earthenware, in 1844. Eight men and women who have ancestral know-how, but above all a deep love of their profession.
Trend spotted at the Maison et Objet fair in September 2019 and confirmed during the last session in January, artisanal CERAMICS is part of a search for AUTHENTICITY and a return to strong VALUES. Stemming from ancient know-how, it is characterized by an approach of “UNIQUE PIECE” and “HANDMADE”.
In our workshops at the Manufacture de Charolles, eight contemporary artisans use traditional techniques to produce objects that are totally in tune with the times.Artisanal ceramic is an object in fired clay created by hand by a person who has specific know-how, the clay having the particularity of giving, mixed with water, a plastic paste called BARBOTINE, easy to shape which becomes hard, solid said BISCUIT and unalterable after cooking. There are many varieties of ceramics depending on the composition of the clay and the techniques used to shape, color and fired them. The large family of ceramics includes: porcelain, earthenware and stoneware. At the Faïencerie de Charolles, our ceramics are in FAÏENCE. Once enamelled, our works of art play with the reflections of light.
Our 8 artisans respond to a real consumer desire for unique and exceptional pieces and for a job well done. As if there was a weariness vis-à-vis standardized, mass-produced products, of unknown origin. The handmade article, according to ancestral methods, would therefore be adorned with a reassuring aura. And soothing. Get out of mass industry. Reconnect with the one who manufactures to better control what we consume. Is it really necessary to collapse under the objects, of poor quality moreover? The success of the Faïencerie de Charolles is proof of this. By dint of being connected, we have lost the connection, the human relationship. Above all, our eight craftsmen want to fill the void, put material back into this dematerialized world. And precisely, acquire a piece of ceramic, by choosing it with care, it is taking a small step on that path. Trying to regain control, so dear to the craftsman, over his existence.
It is not for nothing that the Faïencerie de Charolles is labeled “Entreprise Patrimoine Vivant” (EPV). It seeks to revive, through the use of its passionate craftsmen, a form of sharing, transmission, exchange, from human to human. A revaluation of this art craft of earthenware, but also of the history of this magnificent land of Burgundy. Tables, vases, lights … many everyday objects, useful or decorative objects, which have passed into expert, passionate hands, which you can find at home, as a witness to the history of your region, a moment of life of these craftsmen who took the time to shape them by hand, detail after detail, in their workshop. The Manufacture’s creations are much more than furniture or decorative objects, they are the stories of men and women, of an art, of a region, of a country. It is the history of French craftsmanship through the centuries, which today sublimates your interior decoration.