Provence’s Mediterranean climate and fertile agricultural land are suitable for growing olives, lavender, a wide variety of produce, and grapes for winemaking. The soil varies throughout the region, with abundant clay (argile), which is likely why the area has so many artisan ceramic and pottery makers. Provence’s ceramics industry is a vibrant and integral part of the region’s cultural and economic landscape. These artists blend traditional craftsmanship with modern innovation, making significant contributions to both local heritage and the economy.
Craftsmen and women throughout the region produce unique earthenware. However, a few of the most famous centres are Moustiers, Biot, and Vallauris. These old French pottery centers and workshops (ateliers) have existed for centuries. Today, other villages scattered across the Provençal landscape produce exceptional pieces sought after for their functional use and decorative beauty. In the South of France, where the history of earthenware is long and cross-cultural, pottery has become an essential component of the French country lifestyle.
Understanding Ceramics and Pottery
Discoveries of clay amphoras and other terracotta objects on private and public land in Provence have been archaeologically dated. Some of these objects trace back to even before the Roman era. In Marseille, the Musée des Docks Romains has a collection of archaeological objects unearthed from the Greek and Roman eras, including dolia (large clay amphorae used to transport wine).
Musée des Docks Romains
28 Place Vivaux
13002 Marseille
Telephone: +33 (0)4 91 91 24 62
The museum is closed on Mondays.
During the Middle Ages, the expansion of Mediterranean trade routes and the need for efficient material transport necessitated a robust ceramics industry. In parallel, religious orders and monastic communities created a demand for specific objects. Ceramic objects from this period were primarily utilitarian in nature.
However, the Renaissance period (14th to 17th centuries) heralded a demand for better materials, impeccable craftsmanship, and beautiful finishes.
Present-day Provençal ceramics, continually evolving, are a testament to the region’s beauty and creativity. While experimenting with new techniques, glazes, and shapes, modern artists and artisans remain connected to traditional methods, creating inspiring and intriguing pieces.
Forcalquier: Artists Open Doors
The association Les Ateliers Forcalquier organizes an annual festival, “Les Ateliers Ouverts, “over a weekend at the end of July. Dedicated to art, this symbolic event in the heart of summer is an excellent occasion to discover Forcalquier and the creative, friendly spirit that is part of the town’s DNA. Every street corner will reveal a new creation in this charming town, recognized for decades as a cradle of artistic life. Artists and craftspeople will open the doors of their shops and studios, inviting you to discover their work.
Many Artistic Reasons to Visit Forcalquier
Photo ©TERRA MEA
Moustiers for Faïence Ceramics
In the 17th century, a clergyman from Faenza, Italy, introduced the art of faïence making to artisans in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. This tin-glazed earthenware, often featuring intricate, colourful designs, usually showcases floral motifs, pastoral scenes, and mythological themes. Once produced for French nobility, these finely decorated dishes, pots, urns, and vases have a white-glazed base. The central production locations for faïence in Provence centred around Marseille, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, and Varages, another village in the Haut-Var.
Head to the beautiful town of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, where you’ll find several artisans practicing the ancient craft of making faïence ceramics.
Photo ©L’Atelier Bondil
The Bondil family has been in business since 1980. Recognized as an “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant” (a Living Heritage Company), the atelier has remained faithful to the Moustiers production methods, dating back to the 17th century. L’Atelier Bondil offers traditional faïence patterns and more contemporary styles made entirely by hand.
L’Atelier Bondil
7048 Rue de la Bourgade,
04360 Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
Musée de la Faïence (website)
Rue du Seigneur de la Clue,
04360 Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
Vallauris for Terracotta
Provençal terracotta pottery, made from red clay, encompasses a range of products, from utilitarian kitchenware to decorative pieces. Vallauris Golfe-Juan—”city of 100 potters”—is a tourist town on the French Riviera between Antibes and Cannes. Its name (Valauria in Provençal) means “the golden valley.” The city has two distinct parts: the historic centre of Vallauris and the seaside section, which runs from the port along the Côte d’Azur towards Antibes. The original pottery of Vallauris is traditional culinary ceramics from the Roman era, due to the nearby clay deposits.
Italian families from Genoa settled in the city in the 16th century following a deadly epidemic. This timeframe marks the beginning of pottery activity by individual artisans. In the 17th century, the pottery craft activity continued to develop, becoming a significant economic driver for the city.
Photo ©Remember Provence
The advent of the railway in the 19th century allowed the potters to organize commercial enterprises. They worked in large factories and exported their production. Utensils and kitchen containers become the specialty of Vallauris. This terracotta pottery, enamelled with a clear glaze, is the distinct “trademark” of the town’s pottery.
However, 20th-century modernization brought a decline in artisanal pottery activity in Vallauris. After World War II, Picasso’s settlement in the city gave new impetus to the pottery of Vallauris. Like a magnet, Picasso’s presence drew artists like Jean Marais and others.
Vallauris was fashionable from 1950 to 60 as ceramics developed into an art form. The Massier brothers, Clément, Delphin, and their cousin Jérôme, helped establish the trend towards ceramics as an art form in the late 1800s. Since then, the craft has continued, with an overall focus on decorative ceramics and tableware.
Buy Earthenware from Vallauris
Musée Magnelli, Musée de la céramique (website)
Place de la Libération,
06220 Vallauris
Aubagne: Christmas Figures
Just east of Marseille, Aubagne is a hotbed of glazed pottery production, thanks to the presence of the river Huveaune. Artisan pottery workshops have existed in Aubagne for at least a century, as clay is found readily in the local soil. Some large family factories still exist, such as the Ravel pottery jars specialist or Sicard establishments, which are creators of the famous cicada. Aubagne is also recognized for the work of its local santonniers, the makers of the small clay figures that appear in Provençal Christmas nativity scenes. Every summer, a large ceramics market takes place in Aubagne.
A real santon of Provence is fashioned and painted by hand in clay. This traditional craft for the Provençal nativity creche continues throughout southern France, in a territory corresponding to the influence of Occitan culture. There is a high concentration of santonniers in Aubagne, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, and Arles.
Holiday Shopping: Santons from Provence
Aubagne: Ceramics Fair
ARGILLA is a biennial ceramics marketplace held over a weekend in August. Each year, a country is selected as the event’s thematic focus. This international pottery market and festival is open to the public, and organizers expect as many as 85,000 visitors to attend in Aubagne during those two days.
Photo ©Mia Llauder RETRAT Aubagne ARGILLA 2017
Argilla France (Facebook Page)
Auribeau:
The Terra Mea Ceramique (photo above) workshop is in Auribeau, an idyllic, unspoilt village in the Luberon Valley near Apt. The artists Neu Falguera and Jon Runsten work with stoneware clay. Their collaborative work focuses on natural tones and unique neutral glazes. Terra Mea Ceramique products are available at select markets and art shows throughout the year. During the summer, they also offer three-hour hands-on courses for adults interested in testing their artistic skills.
Terra Mea Ceramique (website)
Lieu-dit Le Bastidon
No 48, Route Départementale 48
84400-Auribeau
By appointment only.
Caromb:
The village of Caromb is a place you pass through on your way to somewhere else in the Vaucluse. Caromb has a quiet charisma and, like many Provençal villages, is bathed in the dappled light of ancient plane trees. According to local legends, Caromb was once the haven of alchemists, though today, the only real alchemist is the ceramicist and potter Jean-Noël Peignon.
Joel-Noël Peignon creates beautiful, functional pottery and decorative pieces. Each piece is unique, hand-turned, decorated, and glazed in earth tones of blue, green, and gold. Each piece is fired twice, meaning his pottery is heat-resistant: microwave-, dishwasher-, and oven-proof. His workshop is as simple as his tools: clay, a kiln, imagination, and craft.
Photo ©Sue Aran @French Country Adventures
Provençal pottery was, and still is, an integral part of daily life, especially for Jean-Noël. If you’re lucky, he’ll guide you through his atelier, show you how he glazes pieces, possibly throw a piece on his wheel, and discuss his other artistic endeavours.
Poterie de Caromb
2, rue de la Recluse
84330 Caromb
Telephone: +33 (0)4 90 62 39 60
Valréas:
In 1998, Marie-Pierre and Cyrille Huyghues-Despointes launched their ceramics workshop, Atelier Romain Bernex. They had a shared vision to open their ceramics studio. The slightly crazy concept was sparked one spring evening by the glow of a ceramic kiln. Marie-Pierre and Cyrille brought a passion for creation to the project, drawing on their backgrounds in design and furniture manufacture.
Photo ©Atelier Bernex
Atelier Bernex designs are contemporary, and the pieces are finished with bright, customized glazes. The company sells 80% of its production to boutiques, hotels, and specialty stores in France and exports to many countries in Europe and worldwide.
Atelier Romain Bernex (website)
124 Chemin de Fanfinette,
84600 Valréas, France
Telephone: +33 (0)4 42 04 79 89
Schedule an appointment in advance.
Formed in 1986, Terres de Provence Céramistes & Potiers en Provence Alpes Côte-d’Azur now comprises more than half of the professional potters in the Provence, Alpes, Côte d’Azur region, with over 120 workshops in the region’s six departments. Additionally, they host dedicated pottery markets on most weekends, from April through October. Their website features an interactive map with workshops located throughout the region.
Anduze (Gard):
Located on the border of the Cévennes, Anduze has been producing utilitarian pottery (tiles, drainpipes, etc.) since the Middle Ages. However, since the 17th century, the village has been known for the “Vase d’Anduze,” a unique ornamental pottery. The vases of Anduze were born thanks to a family of potters who discovered a way to protect the fashionable orange trees under Louis XIV’s reign (or at least that’s the legend). The giant, glazed earthenware vases from Anduze provided the opportunity to move the shrubs into an orangery for shelter against the elements. Today, many of the most beautiful garden vases come from Anduze.
Dieulefit (Drôme):
In the Drôme Provençale, Dieulefit has also been a pottery city for centuries. Its geographical location probably favoured the development of this craft with the forest and the Rhône River nearby. There was indeed water for mixing the earth and wood for firing pottery. The production is centred around glazed pottery for daily use, as in Saint-Quentin. A few dozen craftsmen maintain the pottery activity today.
6 Food Specialities of the Drôme
Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie (Gard):
Situated northeast of Uzès between the forests and the farmlands of the Uzège region, Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie is an old village with colourful houses and a medieval history. Often referred to as France’s ceramic capital, clay has shaped the town’s history since the Middle Ages, with kilns for baking clay dating back to the 13th century. The relics of a potter’s kiln, dating from the 12th or 13th centuries, indicate that the pottery industry in this area is ancient. The village experienced its heyday in the Middle Ages when the popes in Avignon ordered their floor and wall tiles, as well as other objects, from the potters of Saint-Quentin. Not to be missed when visiting the village is the kiln of refractory bricks, one of the oldest kilns still intact. Over a few floors, you can discover the workings of an authentic kiln. It’s a pretty fantastic experience!
Photo ©Marti Schmidt
Today, the pedestrian-friendly town is home to numerous artists’ workshops, including 35 ceramic studios, earning it the “Ville et Métiers d’Art” label.
Meet the Artists of Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie
Musée de la Poterie Méditerranéenne (website)
14 rue de la fontaine
30700 Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie
The opening hours and days vary throughout the year. Please check the website in advance.
Don’t miss: The Fontaine de Griffe, a public fountain that was restored in 1983 by Martine Lafon and other local artists.
