The Story of Terre e Provence Pottery
The tradition of making pottery in Provence dates from the 19th century. In its hay day more than 100 studios existed around the valley of Jabron. In the area we know as Provence lies the village of Dieulefit where we find the small company of Terre e Provence created in1934 by Maurise Moore.
Maurise had the idea of creating a pottery that exemplified the colors of Provence; blue, green, red, and the famous yellow. Maurise had two children Alain and Nicole. Alain learned from his father the techniques of making this beautiful pottery.
In 1981 Alain took over the business from his father and grew the business to 40 employees mostly decorators trained by Alain. Although Terre e Provence had grown very fast it still uses the very same techniques that his father used, keeping the standards at an equally high level and the tradition alive
The hiring and training is done by Alain and then trained by the master decorator Denise for 6 months before being considered capable to decorate with the colored biscuit.
Terre e Provence pottery is uniquely made in a labor intensive manner that makes imitation by lesser skilled producers impossible to duplicate. Notably the curing process which bakes two layers of glaze at 1100 degrees. The Engobe paint is actually a colored clay that is applied by hand between the two layers of glaze.
|