Good practices

I am constantly working to produce pieces of impeccable quality in the spirit of craft workshops where gesture, time spent, and complex know-how prevail over all notions of productivity and profitability. I personally ensure quality control at all stages of manufacturing.

MANUFACTURING METHOD

In my workshop, I produce a production, either related to the tableware or artistic, entirely handmade in a unique piece or in very small series. Each piece leaving my workshop has passed through my hands and I have carried out all the operations manually from start to finish. This explains the differences that can be noted from one piece to another, which means that the characteristic principle of craft workshops is verified in my production: "the same is not the identical". Thus, two bowls that might seem to be the same are in no way identical, as are two bowls from an industrial production line. I personally ensure quality control at all stages of manufacturing.

GENERAL TECHNIQUE USED

The raw materials used are all authorized and compliant as shown in the attached safety data sheets. They are processed in strict compliance with the suppliers' recommendations. The parts that I place on the market are therefore necessarily compliant and do not present any risk to the end consumer.
CLAYS used: come from suppliers Peter Lavem, Ceradel and Solargil, used as appropriate:
– for turning: Smooth Treigny MJ Original sandstone from Solargil , Smooth GRM and chamotte 0-05 GRM2 Moutiers sandstone from Solargil, VD75 white sandstone from Solargil, CG841 white sandstone from Ceradel .
– for modeling, stamping: Smooth Treigny MJ Original sandstone from Solargil , Smooth and chamotte Moutiers sandstone GRM from Solargil, White VD75 sandstone from Solargil , White sandstone CG841 from Ceradel.

SHAPING

The clay is turned, stamped or modeled by hand. The water used in the manufacturing processes is that delivered by the city of Paris 75015 which is declared drinkable. No adjuvant is added to the shaping water.

DRYING

The pieces are dried slowly and naturally in the open air.

BISQUE FIRING

The pieces are fired in an electric oxidation oven, a first time at a temperature of 950°C. This temperature is the one recommended for biscuit firing by clay suppliers. The oven is equipped with a control box, controlled by a microprocessor which guarantees great stability of the firing curves and precision to the nearest degree of the temperature inside the oven, including that at the end of firing.

GLAZING

The enameling is done manually by dipping or pouring. The enamels used are manufactured only by my company which does not use any material prohibited by the European Directives. The density (1.4-1.5) measured by means of a densimeter guarantees a good thickness and a sufficient layer of enamel on the surface in order not to have the disadvantages of an enamel that is too "thin".

GLAZE FIRING

Enamel firing is done in an electric oxidation kiln. The final temperature is between 1250°C and 1270°C depending on the clays, and according to the firing temperature sheets recommended by the suppliers for the earth. For the enamel, the temperature was tested on different shards at different firing degrees measured by the use of Orton cones: cones 8-10 at high temperature obtained the best results in terms of adhesion and homogeneity on the support. The firing time is on average 24 hours (including cooling). Several firing curves have been created depending on the earth in order to allow the perfect fusion, coating and inclusion of fusible elements and those that are not. Cooling is done naturally and slowly (12 hours minimum) and the kiln is removed at a temperature always below 50°C. All the mineral elements included (decorations) are therefore perfectly silicated and consequently perfectly inert.

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND CONTROL

The enamels used will soon be tested by the SFC laboratory, Société Française de Céramique 6/8 rue de la réunion, Les Ulis, 91955 COURTABOEUF cedex. European regulations require that the safety of ceramics be checked by looking for the possible release of Lead and Cadmium; the DGCCRF, the French market control body, also imposes limits on the release of the elements Aluminum, Cobalt, Arsenic. These tests are carried out on pieces ready for sale, even if my raw materials are not supposed to contain these elements.

My ceramic workshop, which does not employ any staff, is a workshop similar to those of the crafts and therefore has a production limited by the time I have to make the products offered for sale myself. In a context of short circuits and direct sales to the consumer, I make sure to offer a product of impeccable quality. This is why at all stages of the manufacturing that I carry out myself, each work put up for sale passing through my hands, I scrupulously control the quality of my work, systematically discarding and destroying the pieces that do not correspond to the idea that I have of a job well done. In particular, products that are split, fragmented, or whose enamel is cracked or judged to be insufficiently thick are eliminated. I apply the spirit of the crafts workshops where the gesture, the time spent, the complex know-how prevail over all notions of productivity and profitability.