DRAGONFLY & RICHARD ORFÈVRE
Silversmith
In the Richard Orfèvre workshop, one of the last silversmiths specialized in cutlery in France, Jean-Pierre Cottet-Dubreuil crafts, laminates, lengthens and stamps silver ingots in which he sculpts forks, knives and spoons… When asked to describe himself, he answers in a soft voice: “I am a gourmet blacksmith”. Since 2012, when he took over the Richard Orfèvre workshop in which he had been working for ten years, he has nurtured the heritage of the craft while adapting his gestures and tools to cater to an array of requests from contemporary designers. When we first visited the Workshop, a softly oblong mandrel caught our attention. A tool designed to work the metal and create regular curves. Marked by the patina of time and work, it had been gifted to Jean-Pierre Cottet-Dubreuil by his predecessor. Its shape and its history, passed on from one generation to the next, inspired the Gallye vases and candlestick.