Exceptional and Limited-Edition pieces

PLATES CELEBRATING THE 24H LE MANS RACE

It all started with a meeting – a group of car enthusiasts from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and the passionate faience craftsmen of Bourg-Joly Malicorne.

This meeting led to the creation of a collection of limited-edition pieces for the 80th anniversary of the 24 hours of Le Mans race.

The sets were created using the work of Ray Toombs, official painter of the ACO painted on  Bourg-Joly Malicorne’s famous openwork or ajourée plates.

The sets are comprised of eight openwork earthenware dessert plates decorated with designs of famous cars:

1. 1920’s pre-war Bentley
2. 1957 Jaguar Type-D 1 - the iconic car of the 1950s
3. 1967 Ford MkIV - from the golden age of motoring
4. 1971 Porsche 917LH 1971 - the fastest car of 1971
5. 1972 Matra 670B – the car that began a winning streak for the French
6. 1982 Porsche 956 - a decade of domination by Porsche
7. 1991 Mazda 787B - the only Japanese car ever to win at Le Mans
8. 2012 Audi R18 – today’s leader

Contact us to purchase the 24h Le Mans Collection plates 

 

EMBROIDERED OPENWORK BASKETS

Bourg-Joly Malicorne approached Michele Rabard a skilled embroiderer who, over 28 years, had built an outstanding reputation working for the renowned fashion house embroiderer François Lesage, to embroider some emblematic Bourg Joly pieces - the Restoration and Vézanne baskets.

The magic starts in the workshop with the forming of the basket. Whilst the clay is still malleable the delicate embroidery designs are applied to the surface and then openings are carefully cut out. The basket is then glazed and adjusted so that an embroidery needle can pass through the apertures.

Michele Rabard then brings her skilful embroidery techniques into play. Taking a small box of beads she threads and braids golden sequins, pearls and diamond shaped beads into strands that her agile fingers then interlace through the openware.

This marriage of haute couture embroidery and Bourg Joly openware has created a new and unique take on a traditional French art form.

Contact us to purchase the embellished basket

  

EIFFEL TOWER

Bourg-Joly Malicorne was the natural choice of partner when local artist Jerome Moulin decided to reinterpret that icon of Frenchness, the Eiffel Tower.

A graduate of the fine arts school in Le Mans, and of  Sarthoise origin, Jerome immediately thought of Bourg-Joly Malicorne for the realisation of his project. Discussions had already got off to a good start by the time Jerome visited  our workshop. From then on, plans to develop the first earthenware Eiffel tower moved on quickly.

For several months, a careful analysis of the Eiffel Tower's architecture combined with the workshop's famed openwork skills, made it possible to produce a very detailed prototype with more than 600 detailed perforations. Skilful moulding techniques and traditional hand glazing processes then enabled this this complex project to reach completion.

Contact us to purchase the earthenware Eiffel Tower

  

THE GIANT NECKLACE: A REAL PEARL

David Michael Clarke, a visual artist who has lived for several years in the Loire valley, had the vision to create an 8-metre-long necklace as part of his “Post God” project. Bourg Joly Malicorne was the partner he chose to realise his concept.

David found in Bourg Joly a  sympathetic collaborator who understood his approach and desire to overturn traditional visual norms. This ambitious project required, above all, a feat of technical excellence.  The necklace grew as an organic sinuous sculpture with creamy round pearls being added one by one. Each glazed pearl is 35 cm in diameter.

Following this installation two limited edition versions were made; 3 necklaces   made up of twenty 10 cm diameter beads, and fifty small necklaces based on the first necklace worn by David during his concerts. 

Contact us to purchase the giant earthenware necklace

  

VERSAILLES VASE

This majestic vase combines the influence of Chinese porcelain with the opulent style favoured by Louis XIV.

During this period there was a desire to imitate Chinese porcelain and in particular its blue and white polychromes.  It was an interesting challenge to combine the Delft style decorations of the Medici vase with Bourg Joly’s traditional skill of creating fruit in earthenware. This version of our vase is made up of more than 100 individual clay pieces and we have called it the Versailles Vase.

Two hours away from Malicorne in the gardens of the Château de Versailles, you can see bronze vases painted in trompe l'oeil to imitate Chinese porcelain and on the walls of  Kings’ vegetable garden, groups of stone carved vases filled with fruit.

Contact us to purchase the Versailles Vase 

 

GAME OF THE GOOSE – A BOARD GAME IN EARTHENWARE

A recent creation, the "Goose Game" is a unique work of art in terms of its scale and decoration.

Each of the 63 tiles features the historical decorations of the faience factory and in particular those favoured by Léon Pouplard, a potter from 1890 to 1952. Passionate about ornithology, Léon Pouplard created a series of twelve duck statuettes that have since become famous.

For the "Goose game", the ducks have put on their running gear... ready, set, go!

Contact us to purchase the Goose Game