Sep 6, 2023
Le Crin, at the intersection of unique know-how, art and design
The only workshop of its kind worldwide
Only one workshop in the world continues to weave horsehair by hand using rare know-how. It takes infinite patience and precise and sure gestures acquired over long months of apprenticeship to create these singular weaves, strand by strand. The technique demands such attention to detail that only a few metres are woven each day. Unsurprisingly christened Le Crin (Horsehair), the workshop in Challes, in France’s Sarthe region, is heir to a patent filed in 1787. Vested with the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label, Le Crin is a veritable conservatory. Combined with linen, wool, sisal or metallic threads, horsehair allows for the creation of patterns, light effects and sometimes audacious nuances. Horsehair-based weaves are exceptional decorative elements that harmoniously complement the Métaphores collections and open new horizons.
Le Crin - A noble fiber, unique gestures
Unique pieces for Paris Design Week
For Paris Design Week 2023, held from 7 to 16 September, Métaphores chose to give pride of place to this exceptional know-how. A scenography composed of furniture pieces, artworks and design objects highlighted the excellence of woven horsehair, a unique savoir-faire of mesmerising singularities and forms.
In the showroom at Place de Furstemberg in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, the scenography presents unique handcrafted pieces in woven horsehair. They are the physical expressions of masterful expertise and techniques spanning the centuries.
Among the pieces presented, discover:
-A sofa in cavalcade, lounge and toundra, creations of Sébastien Coudert Maugendre.
-A furniture piece created by artist Christel Sadde.
-Ceramic lamps crafted by Project 213 A, as well as side tables in bleached chestnut wood.
-Wall lights, products of the talented Vanhille Grubert workshop.
-A pouf in “Snake”, designed by Émilie Paralitici and conceived by the Vanhille Grubert workshop.
-Fans, designed by Émilie Paralitici and crafted by Duvelleroy.
-An end table in Paddock, Pépites, oak and brass, also created by Émilie Paralitici.
The showroom is draped in fabrics from a capsule of four sheers made of linen of European provenance, from growing and harvesting to spinning, dyeing, weaving and finishing. These linen sheers, exquisitely fine and light, offer an aesthetic that is at once natural and architectural, a result of the variety of warp and weft threads used.
This new scenography celebrates the many different uses of woven horsehair, all of which marry function and aesthetics.
