Oyster shell, Porcelain

Linea

Linea is a project born from an invitation by Fondation d’Enterprise Martell, who tasked Studio Noff with exploring the resources of Charente and the surrounding region in Southwestern France.

The project outlines a scenario in which local industries, materials, and traditional knowledge are intertwined—forming a new kind of aesthetic culture. It aims to cultivate new practices and collaborative production networks that correspond with the material and social environments in which they operate.

Rich with fertile soils and quarries, the region has thrived through mastering crafts and skills for the production of consumer goods, making trade and industrial manufacturing an integral part of the region’s identity. However, current production models rely on continuous extractions of valuable natural resources, complex globalized supply chains, and industrial standards that obscure traditional know-how—contributing to the growing instability of global ecological and social systems.

Studio Noff reimagined the production of goods as a process of collective effort—intertwining ropes made by Corderie Palus, the last traditional rope manufacturer in France, with two of the region’s largest industries—Limoges porcelain and the Charente Maritime oyster industry. Both industries are deeply connected to the landscape: the discovery of Kaolin near Limoges in 1768 helped establish the region as a global leader in porcelain production, and the balance between fresh and saltwater in Pertuis Charentais providing the ideal conditions for aquaculture made the region the leading oyster producer in France.

The collection is made from a new porcelain composition with 50% oyster shell ash, utilising the abundance of shell waste in the region to substantially reduce the amount of extracted minerals in the clay. The design draws inspiration from historic ceramics found in La Chapelle-des-Pots and is crafted to accommodate rope in various ways. It pays tribute to the art of knot-making, taking advantage of the rope's versatility and flexibility, and allowing the creation of numerous variations of the same object.

Making process

Oyster shells are collected and heated to remove organic material, then ground and filtered to create fine ash. The ash is then mixed with kaolin, water, and deflocculate to form a liquid slip clay ready for casting.

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