Workshops & Showroom
Step Inside the maison Charles
Workshops & Showroom
At the gates of Paris, the workshops and showroom of the maison Charles bring together the craft of the atelier and the history held in its collections. Here, bronze can be seen at every stage of its transformation: first as a material taking shape in the artisans’ hands, then as lighting, furniture or sculpture in the showroom and throughout the maison’s archives.
The maison Charles Addresses Through the Century
Now based in Aubervilliers’ former match factory, the maison Charles carries forward a history shaped by workshops across Paris. From 103 rue de Turenne, where Ernest Charles took over the Ullmann art-bronze workshop in 1908, to 16 rue du Parc Royal in the Marais, where the…
Now based in Aubervilliers’ former match factory, the maison Charles carries forward a history shaped by workshops across Paris. From 103 rue de Turenne, where Ernest Charles took over the Ullmann art-bronze workshop in 1908, to 16 rue du Parc Royal in the Marais, where the family settled in 1960 after taking over Maison Fargette, via Montreuil and Saint-Denis, where the maison Charles occupied the former Christofle workshops, each address marks a chapter in this history.
The Match Factory
Founded in 1867, the Aubervilliers match factory is recognisable by its U-shaped brick buildings and its 45-metre chimney, protected as a historic monument. The site produced matches until 1962, when the rise of the lighter began to bring about its decline. It later served other…
Founded in 1867, the Aubervilliers match factory is recognisable by its U-shaped brick buildings and its 45-metre chimney, protected as a historic monument. The site produced matches until 1962, when the rise of the lighter began to bring about its decline. It later served other purposes, including as a repository for archives, before the city undertook its restoration with the aim of welcoming skilled crafts to the site.
In 2015, students in conservation-restoration at the Institut national du patrimoine, France’s National Institute for Heritage, and three Chanel Métiers d’art houses moved in: Lognon, a pleating workshop; Massaro, a bootmaker; and Maison Michel, a milliner.
Then, in 2019, the Beaufour-Lévy family, already committed to exceptional craftsmanship, acquired the maison Charles. When Chanel’s Métiers d’art houses moved to le19M, the workshops of the maison Charles took their place, finding there a fitting home for their craft.
The Charles Ateliers
Beyond these doors are the workshops of the maison Charles. The original details of the factory façade have been preserved: small bronze flowers on the lintel, a cast-iron downpipe bearing the initials MA for Manufacture des Allumettes, and a rooftop lantern.
The Chasing Workshop
Here are the chasers’ benches. This is where each piece arrives first after leaving the foundry. The chasing punches, tracers, hammers, matting punches and other tools used for fettling and chasing have, for the most part, been forged by the artisans themselves.
The Turning Workshop
The lathe is among the oldest tools in the artisan’s workshop. Known in ancient Egypt, it entered the bronze-worker’s workshop during the Early Iron Age. In Central Europe, artisans of the Hallstatt culture were already using it to engrave the lines on their bronze ornaments with…
The lathe is among the oldest tools in the artisan’s workshop. Known in ancient Egypt, it entered the bronze-worker’s workshop during the Early Iron Age. In Central Europe, artisans of the Hallstatt culture were already using it to engrave the lines on their bronze ornaments with remarkable regularity. More than twenty-five centuries later, the principle remains the same: the piece turns, the tool shapes it. On this historic lathe of the maison Charles, the turners hand-shape each piece’s profiles using the ornamental wheels known as molettes des rois.
The Assembly Workshop
At the assembly bench, the components of each piece are adjusted and fitted together one by one. They are then taken apart again before being passed to the polisher.
The Heat
At the hot-workbench, the flame of a blowtorch softens a piece so the chaser can work it again, or joins two components through silver brazing.
Raw Materials
Brass tubes, sections and sheets await on the shelves, arranged by thickness.
Templates
Metal and wooden templates hang on the workshop walls. Annotated by hand, they preserve the exact measurements of each model and form an integral part of the maison Charles archives. They make it possible to reproduce every piece in the catalogue faithfully.
Master Models
The master models, the reference models from which each piece is reproduced, rest on these shelves. Arranged by name, they form the living archive of the maison Charles catalogue, which comprises more than 1,000 pieces.
The Showroom
The showroom brings together historical pieces and contemporary creations in a space designed to welcome guests. The maison Charles welcomes clients, architects and friends of the maison, sometimes gathering around the table for dinner.
