When bold combines, magic unfolds. This truism describes Aptware, the 18th-century terre mêlée pottery named for its Provençal town of origin, as well as the rich, long relationship of Jane Schulak and David Stark—whose shared passion for the craft is on brilliant display in their latest collaboration, At the Artisan’s Table.
“I fell in love with Aptware years ago,” says Schulak, an author, designer and patron of makers whose interests range from the innovative art scene in Michigan (where she founded the arts and culture network Culture Lab Detroit) to the ateliers of Paris, where she serves on the board of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. “I’m a pattern person,” she says, “and I’m really excited by the mix of color and patterns.” With roots reaching back to the Tang dynasty, Aptware simulates the natural marbling of stone by kneading colored clays together and pressing them into graceful forms, pushing the prefiring envelope toward chromatic derring-do while avoiding an entropic descent into muddying. What might look like virtuoso glazing is chromatic alchemy baked in.
And in 21st-century Paris, Schulak discovered her modern master: Sylvie Saint-André Perrin. “Sylvie is a supreme example of taking a craft and speaking it in a new language,” Schulak says. “She goes wild with color, and yet I also love how refined her dishes are.” Over the years Schulak amassed Saint-André Perrin’s terre mêlée dishes in bold colorways, mixed them with antique pieces, and dressed her table with them for occasions “ranging from Thanksgiving to having friends over for dinner.” Several years ago she picked special dinner plates in rich chocolate brown, green, and cream to give her artist and event designer friend David Stark.
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In a meet-cute artistic moment, the New York–based Stark recognized the work of Saint-André Perrin as that of a piece he’d bought for himself in a Paris shop three years prior. “It was an extraordinary work,” he recalls, “orange and brown and a little mustard, very deep and sexy and saturated.” Their aesthetics further bound, Schulak and Stark made a trip together to Paris to meet Saint-André Perrin in her 15th arrondissement atelier. Schulak then dove deeper into the historic provenance of the marbled pottery, and when the friends decided to create a book devoted to setting tables with artisan pieces and historical objects, it was an ideal opportunity to feature Saint-André Perrin’s dishes in an ebullient setting created by Schulak and Stark.
Just as in the book, the tableau they create for a living room dinner party—setting Saint-André Perrin’s pieces against inlaid Italian marble—is a declaration of the power of pattern and an expression of the friends’ passion for a form predicated on risk. What lies ahead for the pair? More pilgrimages to Paris for work and fun and an inevitable next collaboration, Schulak says. “I can’t imagine not making something with David, whether it’s for each other or together.” Bold blends, vivid outcomes. How utterly apt.
Want to add some character to your next dinner party? Dress up your table with these beautiful Aptware finds:
