ALBUM artisans Puiforcat Avenue Gabriel 48, Paris Émile Puiforcat opened his first silver workshop in 1820 and, four generations later, his descendant Jean made the company reach its peak. Named master silversmith in 1920, Jean Puiforcat was an impassioned sculptor and friend to artists; he developed a business that continues to stand today as one of the points of excellence in French craftsmanship. With its immense legacy, comprising 10,000 holloware pieces and over 100 flatware styles, Puiforcat is a unique example of a company that has managed to keep its tradition alive while constantly experimenting with new forms and materials. Sterling silver, plated silver and stainless steel are guaranteed by the house’s hallmark. Puiforcat maintains the rare skill of planishing: the metal sheet is stretched and hammered by hand, to give the object the desired shape. Pitchers, bowls and serving trays are then etched, chased, engraved, buffed and polished. All items can be custom made and personalised with the most refined and complex decorations. Puiforcat works in silver are featured in the Louvre and at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Puiforcat recently became a Hermès Group company. puiforcat.com
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Peter Marigold 11 South End Road, London An enfant prodige of extraordinary manual skill, Marigold was a student of Ron Arad after graduating from the Central St. Martins and earning a post-graduate degree at London’s Royal College of Art. A fan of irregular forms, which he combines into the most original structures, he has a thing for order: most of his creations are designed to hold objects, books, clothing. Every space is used for this purpose, even window niches. Make/Shift, for example, is a modular system of wedge-shaped shelves produced in a variety of strong, lightweight materials that can perfectly fit into any space. Whereas Split Box Shelves (below) is created from a single log split into four pieces whose com-
Gilles Bonvin 3 Route de Challonges Usinens (France) Love for beauty is the driving force behind this excellent French decorator. Whether he is painting a mountain landscape with animals on a wall, an entire ceiling of faux wood or recreating the stones to hide a door in a mortarless wall, what inspires him is always beauty. After completing his studies at the Van der Kelen school in Brussels and specialising in theatre decoration in Geneva, he returned to his native Haute-Savoie, where he opened his own atelier. Bonvin has decorated many houses, both internally and externally, reproducing entire landscapes complete with flora and fauna. His choice of materials depends on the type of surface he is working on and can include many different types of minerals, pigments, acrylic paints as well as beer-based or oil paints. He also collaborates with carpenters, to prolong and enhance the visual effect of wooden boiseries with his decorative and trompe-l’oeil motifs. gilles.bonvin13@gmail.com
bined angles total 360 degrees. Among his most original creations is an expandable elliptical table with insertable leaves that are the off-cuts generated from cutting the ellipse. In this way, the table doubles in size and all scrap is reused. His workshop is in Hampstead Heath, just a stone’s throw from the eponymous London park. Marigold’s knack for disassembling and reassembling furniture has enabled him to give birth to highly original creations that are widely exhibited in many countries, including the Salone del Mobile in Milan, where he is a regular guest. petermarigold.com
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