I experienced a little bit of ceramicist heaven when I visited Astier de Villatte, this one of a kind ceramic ware shop with a dark, mysterious, almost unnoticeable facade. Their gorgeous website doesn't tell too much about the concept of the store but I was lucky enough to have a little chat with one of the friendliest shopkeepers.
The ceramic objects are made by hand at the only Parisian ceramics factory still existing, somewhere secret in the 13e
arrondissement. No visitors are allowed there but everybody's of course warmly welcomed at the only
shoppe of the company (173, rue Saint-Honoré, 1er). To make their ceramic ware the company uses a Parisian clay body that is dark
in colour and their signature glaze is glossy and white.
At the shop they are currently exhibiting Nathalie Lété's whimsical ceramic
paintings and they have also collaborated previously with artists such as Countess Setsuko Klossowska de Rola, John Derian and PATCH NYC.
“We are inspired by things forgotten,” Ivan says, “things that aren’t very well considered.”
The founders, Ivan Pericoli and Benoît Astier de Villatte, tell more about the company in their short film. They let the camera take a peek at the factory and they also reveal a little bit of the making process: press mold!
(I recently realized that Paris is a spiral when it comes to the arrondissements. It starts with the 1er arrondissement and ends up with 20e! I consider this as one of the biggest epiphanies I've had so far!)