A French affair with clay

Saint Quentin la Poterie in France has for centuries been celebrating the art of ceramic

Tucked away in the south of France is the quaint village of Saint Quentin la Poterie — a gem straight out of a fairy tale. With its colourful, tiled pavements, exquisite ceramic museums and earthy outdoor cafés, the place looks like it has been scooped right out of a Grimm’s story and daintily planted in the south of France. 

According to guidebooks, Saint Quentin is a typical Mediterranean village, in terms of both its landscape and culture. It is located in the agricultural plain of the Gard, about five kilometre from the town of Uzes, and is nestled between the foothills of the Cévennes mountain range and the beaches of the Camargue. 

The village’s relationship with pottery goes back all the way to the 14th century — a love affair still going strong. Today, it is dotted with galleries and workshops that house clay and ceramic works of different styles and origins. Most of the hamlet’s inhabitants are themselves artists, and almost every window offers a vibrant array of sculptures and figurines. It’s easy to while one’s time away, strolling along its snaking streets, admiring the numerous ceramic stores that pepper the sidewalk and grabbing a snack at the rustic eateries that pop up every block or so, but no trip to Saint Quentin would be complete without a tour of its pottery museum. 

Housed in an old oil mill, the Museum of Mediterranean Pottery has on display an impressive collection of pipes, terraces and utensils that are spread out over two floors and 11 rooms. Originally constructed as a passion project by Arnaud Maurieres and Eric Ossart, the museum is now an award-winning property that hosts temporary exhibitions and expositions by international artists throughout the year. 

Sculptures visible from window of a house in Saint Quentin la Porterie village in France

Once inside, we were taken on a thorough tour of the building by Nicole Bouyala, a friend and founding member of the museum as well as the mayor of Saint Quentin, who has donated parts of her own private collection to the establishment. She explains the significance of each work and the history surrounding it in just enough detail and keeps it interactive by asking us rounds of lively questions. 

The inside of the museum is decorated with over 12,000 sculptures that are as beautiful as they are diverse. As we walk from the entrance to the building all the way to the top floor and then back down, we’re taken on a journey through time as we view pieces that are centuries old as well as ones that are barely a decade. 

You don’t just get to look at what is housed there; you also get to see how it came to be. The thick walls that divide the area into rooms sometimes sport a television or two that constantly play footage of either the process or the outcomes of pottery. A particularly interesting video takes the viewer through the entire procedure, right from obtaining the clay to sprucing up the finished product — my sister found herself unable to tear her eyes away till it was over. 

Sandwiched between the museum and a patch of monochrome cottages is Terra Viva, one of the largest pottery stores in the village that doubles as an exposition centre. The brightly-lit shop is manned by a buzzing young woman who shows us all of the stunning masterpieces up for sale before taking us on a tour of an ongoing exhibition. 

Some of the pieces have a smooth, shimmering finish that completely change their look and feel. Others have incredibly detailed illustrations of goldfish or other forms of life etched on them and, of course, a lot of them are devoid of any extra embellishment. But however they are sculpted and designed, they all manage to look a true sight for sore eyes.

We ended up succumbing to the pull of pottery and bought ourselves a couple of knick-knacks from some of the dear little family-run stores. Skipping down by-lanes and peeking into a dozen pottery studios, we broke the monotony of window-shopping by admiring the ornate tile work that trails all along the main street of Saint Quentin and squealing excited “bonjours” to startled locals.

The true magic of the place, though, doesn’t come from the charming landscape, but from the artsy atmosphere that seems to cloak pretty much everything within Saint Quentin’s aesthetic borders. Even the village’s habitants are enveloped by an aura that lends a tranquil feel to the entire neighbourhood. 

Although it doesn’t feature in too many tourist guides or in the list of “Top 10 Things to do in France”, Saint Quentin la Poterie certainly deserves a visit, if not two. I’d rate the enchanting place five ceramic bowls out of five for its uniqueness, its lovely people and for looking like the set of an 18th century fairy tale.