Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Revol: an insider’s look into porcelain craftsmanship

Revol: an insider’s look into porcelain craftsmanship
Founded two decades before the French Revolution, Revol remains a French flagship in porcelain manufacturing. The family-run company, still based in its historic stronghold of Saint-Uze, in France’s Drôme region, stands out for its blend of craftsmanship and technology, and a distinctly modern approach to design.

Within ceramics, porcelain is recognized as the noblest of materials. Fine and delicate in appearance, it is heat-resistant, non-porous, and completely inert. To qualify as porcelain, the clay body—a mixture of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar–must be white and fired at 1320°C. Revol, founded in 1768, is currently run by ninth-generation porcelain makers who attribute success to this skillful blend of minerals. Today, Managing Director Olivier Passot and his brother Amaury, who oversees made-to-measure projects, lead the 300-strong company, which earned the Entreprise du patrimoine vivant label and is still based in the historic Drôme site. Work at the factory generally falls into one of two activities: custom projects, which essentially entail creating primary packaging—customers include Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Dries van Noten, Ricard, and Chartreuse; and Revol’s own brand, with its catalog of porcelain tableware and kitchen ware. Revol’s crinkled tumbler that launched in 2000, for example, has become an iconic design piece.

Revol prides itself on cutting-edge technical expertise as well as a strong creative streak expressed in the company’s designs. Although the brand creates its own catalog in-house, it also launches a collection with a renowned designer every year. “Our aim is to work with French designers for this collection,” explains Antoine Béchu- Pochez, Head of Communications and Branding. In 2023, Inga Sempé designed the Bombance collection, while Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance previously created the Caractère line. Revol also regularly hosts artists who come to discover the breadth of the company’s porcelain- making expertise.

Bouton