Orléans, land of potters
2000 years of tradition

From Nov 5, 2024
To Jul 27, 2025

AT THE HOTEL CABU

The potter and tile-maker craft has a long and singular history in the Orléans region, based on the exploitation of specific clay beds and evolving know-how adapted to this resource. It also reflects Orléans' economic position since Antiquity, as a major trading center and cultural crossroads. The exhibition Orléans, terre de potiers. 2000 years of traditions invites you to discover this history through the archaeological collections of the Hôtel Cabu - Musée d'Histoire et d'Archéologie, private collections and objects discovered during archaeological operations carried out in the Metropolis over the last few decades by the City of Orléans Archaeological Department.

The event is also part of an academic framework, with the TCA and Iceramm networks hosting topical days from November 6 to 8, 2024, reinforcing the historic role of the Centre-Val de Loire region as the cradle of medieval ceramology.

Alberto Ricci

The Orléans region, a land of clay

For 1500 years, the Orléans region has been marked by the production of earthenware vessels and building materials. At the heart of this history are abundant, high-quality raw materials, as well as people - earthenware potters, turners, faience makers, porcelain makers, tile makers, brick makers... who assimilate, adapt, innovate and pass on their traditions and know-how.

Archaeology became interested in ceramics very early on, and the continuous evolution of manufacturing methods, shapes and decorations made it possible to chronologically determine the production of a vase, so that it could become a dating tool. The Centre-Val de Loire region, cradle of medieval ceramology in the 1970s, played a major role in the development of the discipline. Since then, the increase in archaeological operations and studies in the metropolis, combined with the evolution of methods, has enabled us to draw up a precise typochronology of ceramics and building materials. The exhibition presents this evolution from Antiquity to the present day.

Tour assistance

First showroom - Sequences 1 to 5

Second showroom - Sequences 6 to 11

First showroom - Sequences 1 to 5

1.2 Operating chain

1. Pottery stoves _{Inv. 71.3.54; 71.3.56; 71.3.59}

2. Brick mould

3. Gasette _{Inv. A.4749}

4. Pernettes _{Inv. 10297}

5. Sheep of plates in tin-glazed earthenware from the workshop of Edmont Féau _{Inv. 106 AD-01}

6. Accots or cocks feet _{Inv. 10295}

2.1 Antiquity

7. Bipedalsquare brick (2 feet) _{Inv. 040.1063-5}

8. Handle brick _{Inv. 040.1063-19}

9. Brick _{Inv. 040.1063-4}

10. 11. 12. Tegulae _{Inv. 040.1063-1, 040.1063-2, 040.1063-3}

3.1 5th - 8th centuries

73. Cruchon with pinched spout and wheel decoration with diamond motifs on 3 registers _{Inv. 1702-6}

74. Jug with pinched spout _{Inv. 1362-1702}

75. 76. 77. 78. 79. Baking pots _{Inv. 1702-P15; 1374-5; 1702-A22; 1702-15; 1702-16}

80. 81. Pots with pierced ears _{Inv. 1370-6; 1370-5}

82. High hull cups _{Inv. 1702-14; 1363-7; 1702-42; 1374-2; 1374-3; 1374-4}

83. 84. 85. Carinated beakers _{Inv. 1702-12; 1374-1; 1702/25-1}

Second showroom - Sequences 6 to 11

6.1 13th - 14th centuries

117. Jug with tubular spout and opposite handles _{Inv. 1372-4}

118. Oule _{Inv. 6074}

119. Pot _{Inv. 1233-3}

120. Pan with internal glaze _{Inv. 1366-2}

121. Basin with two opposite handles and internal glaze _{Inv. 1372-1}

122. Basin with Two Opposite Handles _{Inv. 1359-2}

123. Pitcher _{Inv. 2086-1}

124. Barrel with partial glaze _{Inv. 2629}

125. Partially glazed jug _{Inv. 1414-4}

126. Jug with barbotine and glaze decoration _{Inv. 1538-2}

127. Partially glazed jug _{Inv. 6077}

128. Partially glazed jug _{Inv. 1233-1}

129. Buckets _{Inv. 1359-1, 1360-2, 1360-3}

6.3 Reserve vessels

135. Coquemar with double handle and perforated body, used as an incense pot _{Inv. 21299-4}

136. Single-ringed cockle with perforated belly, used as an incense pot _{Inv. 21299-1}

137. Single-ringed coquemar with perforated body, used as an incense pot _{Inv. 6095-1}

138. Jug with perforated body, used as an incense pot _{Inv. 1327-573}

139. Single-ringed coquemar with perforated body, used as an incense pot _{Inv. 6120-1}

10.1 XIX - XX centuries

187. Tripod pot by Georges Trutteau _{Inv. 65}

188. Georges Trutteau pâté tureen _{Inv. 484}

189. Coffee pot by Georges Trutteau _{Inv. 334}

190. Georges Trutteau's cooking pot _{Inv. 418}

191. Georges Trutteau dinner plate _{Inv. 312}

192. Albert Bardin miot bowl _{Inv. 102}

193. Plate by Georges Trutteau _{Inv. 2427}

194. Bauchet-Laberthe dish _{Inv. 405}

195. Bauchet-Laberthe dish with painted medallion decoration _{Inv. 48}

196. Bauchet-Laberthe scalloped dish with painted basket decoration _{Inv. 483}

11.1 XX - XXI centuries

204. 205. 206. 207. (digital) Soba Choko Wrinkled and non-planar series

208. 209. (digital) Soba ChokoSeries From Machine to Hand

210. (digital) Soba Choko Motif-Texture Series

211. (digital) Soba Choko Inclination Series

212. (digital) Soba Choko Topography series

213. (digital) Soba Choko Reverse Series

214. (digital) Soba Choko Crumble Series

Lexicon

Oule

From the ^10th to the ^14th century, this was the name given to a closed, handleless pot with a banded lip. The oule was generally used to heat food by the hearth.

Coquemar

Closed pot with one or more handles attached to the lip or neck. This common form of cooking pot, with the same function as the oule, appeared in the Orléans region during the ^12th century and disappeared in the ^19th century.

Chantignolle

The modern brick, around 20 cm long, 10 cm wide and 5 cm thick, has a thinner version known as demi-brique or chantignolle. In Orléans, this particular module is generally reserved for the hourdis of timber-framed facades or the assembly of interior partitions.

Antefix

Ornamental tile decorated with motifs in relief, inserted at the end of a row of half-round tiles at the edge of the roof or at the top, at the level of the made.

Games booklet Orléans terre de Potiers

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DP Orléans terre de Potiers

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Orléans, land of potters
2000 years of tradition

The Orléans region, a land of clay

Tour assistance

Around the event

Conferences

1000 pieces

Programmed ceramics & 3D printing

Patterned pot

Guided tours Orléans, land of potters