At Paris’s Bazar d’Alger, Old Tableware Gets a New Gleam
Arnold d’Alger ferrets out porcelain dishes sitting in lonely stacks and updates them. The graphic designer uses gold glaze that he applies by hand with fine paint brushes and ink pens to give his dusty finds new dazzle. The upcycled wares are available at Bazar d’Alger, Arnold’s shop site, and by commission: he’s happy to works with pieces from his own collection as well as customers’ own plates and platters.
Arnold previously designed visual identities and did illustration work. Tired of solitary days at his computer, he signed up for classes in porcelain decorating and silk painting at Paris Ateliers, a great place, he tells us, for affordable intro courses in the applied arts. Assigned to bring in some plates to upgrade, Arnold turned to Leboncoin, the French equivalent of Craigslist, and found an affordable trove of grandmotherly castoffs waiting to be rediscovered.
Arnold now has an atelier in his apartment in the 10ème with shelves and shelves of second-hand French crockery. He does his own adorning here and hosts workshops: participants embellish plates à la Arnold. Have some unloved, hand-me-down dishware that could use zhooshing? Come consider the possibilities.
Photographs courtesy of Bazar d’Alger (@bazardalger), unless noted.
Embellished Vintage Tableware
Above: Arnold uses a French ceramic glaze that’s a mix of gold and resin: “It allows you to apply the material in the same way as a painting or drawing,” he says. The finished work gets fired in a kiln in his workshop. The resulting new glaze has no thickness—”you can’t feel it under your finger”—and is permanent and food safe: it can even be put through the dishwasher on the china cycle or eco mode.
Above: Bazar d’Alger scalloped Stardust plates are €145 and smaller Stardust plates are €135. Less complex Stardust soup bowls are €25. Arnold sticks with old French porcelain dishware and often uses white designs with gilded edges that are decades old but widely available and not considered precious.
Above: Bazar d’Alger Alphabet bowls and plates take inspiration from childhood memories of alphabet soup. They start at €40 and are custom lettered by hand: “choose a word, a memory, or a wish to inscribe.” This one reads: “À bientôt, papa” (see you soon, dad). Cursive lettering is also available starting at €25.
Above: A Leafy coffee set is €350. “Gold has a power to enhance that makes people accept the traces of wear and tear present on tableware that may already be 50, 100 or 150 years old,” Arnold told The Socialite Family. “By using this precious addition, old things get upcycled—and passed on.”
Above: Arnold’s Stardust, Little Heart, and Palmito patterns combined.
Hand-Painted Tiles
Above: Arnold makes “tile murals” on commission. Here, he’s shown using his tool of choice, a dip pen, for creating small, precise drawings on tiles and plates: “I always encourage workshops participants to begin with a dip pen; it can be capricious at first, but once tamed it’s your best ally.”
Above: Fancifully patterned custom backsplashes are a specialty. “White or colored, matte or shiny tile” are all fair game. Here, Arnold applied gold and black glaze to green zellige. Because firing is required, the tiles have to be embellished before they’re installed.
Above: Arnold’s tilework is made to order for specific locations. Here, a Bazar d’Alger shower. Photograph by Gregory Zimmermann.
The Studio
Above: Arnold’s atelier/apartment is located in a converted workshop. Participants in his classes gather at his table surrounded by his finds from bric-a-brac shops and Leboncoin.
Above: Workshop participants can bring their own wares to decorate or select from the plates on his shelves.
Above: Arnold’s aim, he says, is “to give a second life to our grandmother’s dishes, so that they find their place back at the table.” Photograph by RINCK Gaspard.
Here are some easy tabletop upgrades:
* Trend Alert: Tiny and Imperfect Embroidered Napkins and More
* DIY: Refreshing Cooling Cloths from The Lost Kitchen in Freedom, Maine
* Priscilla Woolworth’s Conversation-Starter Place Settings Made from Castoffs
N.B.: This story originally appeared on February 20, 2024 and has been updated. | bit.ly/3XLoEJb
http://dlvr.it/TGzS0z
Comments
Post a Comment