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It’s the story of Christian PLOIX.

Oeuvre exposée au Musée de Sèvres.

Born on June 14th 1936 in Carthage, on the site of ancient Carthage, Christian Ploix was immersed in the Roman and Punic world which forged his aesthetic universe.

In 1951, he joins the ceramics school of Gué in Tresmes (Seine-et-Marne), an annex of the School of Fine Arts. Living in Vallauris next to the ceramist Neveu, as part of the Cérenne company, he starts his career as a creator of forms and decorations.

In 1959 with his wife Florence, he settles down on the heights of Algiers, making small series of earthenware pieces. Then, he is appointed as a member of a selection jury for Algerian craft productions.

In 1962, he founds the workshop school of the Annassers which he then hands over to the direction of Algerian crafts.

The returnees from there are already back in France… By chance, they stop over in Grimaud, a pretty village located on the heights of the famous « Golfe de Saint-Tropez ». Discovery. Daydreams. They anchor in this paradise on earth, with the scents of a summer in the Islands, where bougainvilleas decorate the stone walls of the pretty cobbled streets.

Returning to France in 1963, Christian and Florence Ploix settle in Grimaud, in the Var, starting with a small workshop with an inverted flame oven allowing them to make stoneware and earthenware.

Thus was born, in 1964, « La Poterie des 3 Terres » : a name and a number that will bring happiness to the couple by becoming, over the travel diaries and orders, meetings, works, sensations and emotions, criterion of quality and creativity. The Tropezian celebrities of the time - whether industrialists, models, artists, racers and even celebrities from the monarchy - land in their studio.

La Poterie des 3 Terres

Tapis persan en carrelage

All types of clients, without exception and without exclusivity, because Christian Ploix and his wife create for everyone. It is naturally, since we are in Saint-Tropez, that Brigitte Bardot « BB » will kick off. Back from filming « Viva Maria », BB orders for her kitchen in « La Madrague », mexican inspired tiles. Signed Ploix, of course ! Jeanne Moreau, Hallyday, Barclay and co. Among the most unusual orders of the moment : that of the best known and most popular decorator of Saint-Tropez : Philippe Tallien. He wants « La Poterie des 3 Terres » to make a… Persian carpet to carpet the bottom of his swimming pool. Banco! Christian Ploix sets to work.

Solicited by the famous architect François Spoerry, « La Poterie des 3 Terres » participate in the creation of Port Grimaud. They realize more than half of the kitchens and bathrooms of this « Little Venice ».

A new generation
Alexandre Ploix

The spirit of « La Poterie des 3 Terres » is still the same as the beginning. However , there are a lot of new ideas that have emerged or new directions that has been taken. It’s Alexandre, the youngest son of Florence and Christian, who joined them a few years ago, who started the succession through tremendous artistic challenges.

On the front of the stage, Alexandre who create magnificent jars, pottery with sensual and generous forms, combining true technical and artistic prowess. Everything is always shaped by hand by applying the terracotta directly to a rope, then enamelled with flamboyant colors, in tune with the times. His gold or silver glazes and his original designs in a patchwork style or inspired by Kandinsky, Mirò or even Delaunay are all signatures that represent « La Poterie des 3 Terres » today.

It’s all this atmosphere, all this climate carried by Alexandre, determined to conquer the world by offering it, thanks to a precious terracotta, all the magic of a beautiful family history and artistic, the one of a « little potter » who became a master in the art of creating.

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