©Atelier Du Cuivre 09 Nicolas Donarier|Nicolas Donarier

We'll take you on a tour L'Atelier du Cuivre

Take a trip back to the time of the coppersmiths, and let us guide you to the Atelier du Cuivre! You’ll discover the ancestral know-how that has made Villedieu famous since its foundation in the 12th century, when crusaders returning from Jerusalem brought back with them the techniques developed in the Middle East.

A bit of history

As we enter the workshop, Claire, in charge of guided tours, leads us to a small projection room where a 20-minute educational film retraces the history of coppersmithing in Villedieu-les-Poêles and highlights the work of the craftsmen.

Founded in 1850, the Atelier du cuivre is one of the oldest still in operation, maintaining the tradition of copperware by hand-crafting all kinds of copper pieces, from our grandmothers’ traditional milk canes to luxury taps and fittings, as well as artistic pieces made to order.

©Atelier Du Cuivre 02 Nicolas Donarier|Nicolas Donarier

©Atelier Du Cuivre 01 Nicolas Donarier|Nicolas Donarier

In the heart of the workshop

Then it’s off to the workshop, where several coppersmiths are at their workstations: coppersmithing, boiler making, spinning, tinning and polishing.

Strapped into a heavy leather belt, muscles taut, a craftsman shapes the copper by embossing it with a grease-coated pouch. This gives the object its future shape.

A little further on, another coppersmith is tinning an old saucepan. The pewter bar is melted to a thick, silvery liquid, which is poured into the bottom of the utensil, where the craftsman spreads it in a thin protective layer to give the object its full lustre.

In the oldest part of the workshop, regular, muffled blows resonate and rattle our eardrums. Sitting on a stool with a copper basin on the pile, the craftsman hammers the copper continuously. In addition to giving objects their distinctive, sparkling appearance, hammering tightens the material, making the naturally malleable copper much stronger.

To round off this visit, which blends ancestral know-how with contemporary innovation, we take a tour of the two-storey boutique, where bracelets, saucepans, fishbowls, fluted molds and other shimmering copper objects stand side by side.