PIERRE MARIE AGIN
An ornamenter raises an exceptional piece to the rank of a work of art
Ceaselessly seeking to reinvent its exceptional pieces, Saint-Louis teamed up with the artist-decorator-ornamenter Pierre Marie Agin, a lover of craftsmanship, motifs and colors, which he puts in the service of his flamboyant universe. Together, they conceived Chamade, exceptional crystal pieces that lie somewhere between sculptures and tulip-holders.
Ambassador of French craftsmanship
After obtaining his science baccalaureate and studying animation, Pierre Marie Agin began designing motifs. Noticed by Hermès and then A.P.C., he made greeting cards and prints for silk scarves and shirts, and even designed a film poster. After textiles, he began to use his talent for motifs, shapes and color for pieces that were often one of a kind, which he made in collaboration with craftspeople that he likes to challenge, offering them a contemporary vocabulary and displaying the limited series in his Parisian gallery. He has brought French craftsmanship up to date (master glassmakers, loom setters and potters), a sort of modern day William Morris. During a visit to the manufacture, he went to the museum’s attic, where thousands of antique pieces are stored, a source of infinite inspiration.
Three pieces of absolute ingenuity
The Chamade collection is made up of three crystal pieces marked by absolute ingenuity: Tenor, Alto and Soprano. Three hybrid models that sit at the border between ornamental sculpture and practical vases, part of the purest tradition of decorative arts. Perfectly mastering depth, sinuous curves and a varied palette, Pierre Marie Agin has created a coherent ensemble with sculptural shapes, whose many motifs and shapes evoke the world of plants.
Each of the three models is numbered and limited to 8 pieces.
Tenor is made up of 184 metal and doubled crystal pieces in chartreuse green, amber and purple hues. It is 37.4 inches tall and weighs 81.5 pounds.
Alto is made up of 129 metal and doubled crystal pieces in amber, light blue and purple hues. It is 33.8 inches tall and weighs 52.9 pounds.
Soprano is made up of 65 metal and doubled crystal pieces in amethyst, chartreuse and purple hues. It is 23.2 inches tall and weighs 35.3 pounds.
Ingenuity, irreverence and wonder
“For Chamade, I took note of the motifs I liked and I created a flower decor, by cutting a large number of little dots on spherical shapes. When Saint-Louis proposed that I make three exceptional pieces, I felt as though I had been granted three wishes. Starting from that, ingenuity, irreverence and wonder simply took shape.”, says Pierre Marie.
An experienced organist, Pierre Marie took his inspiration from the monumental instrument, naming his collection “Chamade.” A name that comes from the arrangement of trumpet pipes when they are placed in front of the instrument, what the French call “en chamade,” thereby evoking the single-stem vases that decorate the collection's three pieces. But the French term “chamade” also refers to the beat of the drum or blow of the trumpet. The artist has thus enriched this family of three pieces, inspired by the classification of trumpets, naming them Tenor, Alto and Soprano based on their size.
To bring this waking dream to fruition, the designer scoured the archives, in particular the attic of the Saint-Louis museum, where he unearthed monumental colored 19th century porcelain vases. These handmade pieces served as inspiration for the elements that make up these three exceptional creations, combining different components (hand-blown bubbles, single-stem and conical vases, reeds and glasses), relying on the Maison’s technical prowess and heritage. The presentation of Chamade took place in the wake of glassmaking techniques being listed as part of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in December 2023. Pierre-Marie Agin also questioned the habits of craftspeople by playing with the manufacture’s historic palette of nine hues in an innovative manner. He also adapted his motifs to the manufacture’s cutting vocabulary to create a powerful vision.
Collection Chamade
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