A while back, Julie and I discovered that we’ve been collecting the same handblown bottles and bud vases that look unearthed from another era. And cost surprisingly little. I found mine at John Derian in NYC; she found hers at John Derian in Provincetown, Massachusetts. When I spotted Julie’s lineup on her living room shelf, she decided to do some sleuthing.
Mexico? Morocco? It turns out the designs are the work of Paris glass studio La Soufflerie (translation: The Blower), which takes inspiration from ancient wares and uses recycled glass.
Husband-and-wife team Sébastian and Valentina Nobile—he’s a glassblower, she’s an artist—founded La Soufflerie in 2007. “We are a group of artisans now,” says Valentina. “We use ancien forms and techniques—we blow mainly sitting down using a clay oven—to make utilitarian everyday objects.”
To see the company’s new milk bottle design, go to 10 Favorites from the French Scullery. For US glass companies we have our eye on, take a look at Malfatti Glass and Deborah Ehrlich, both in upstate New York and Nate Cotterman in LA. Go to 10 Easy Pieces for Our Favorite Everyday Drinking Glasses.
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on August 19, 2015.
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