The People Behind the Pieces
Eleven workshops. Four countries. One bench at a time.
Halden Joinery in Aarhus has been jointing chairs for three generations. Olga throws every stoneware lamp herself in a converted barn outside Porto. We don't run RFQs across faceless factories — every supplier on this site has come into our kitchen for coffee.
How we find them
Slowly. We meet most of our makers through other makers — a Danish carpenter recommends a Portuguese potter who recommends a Tuscan tanner. We visit before we order. We carry the materials we'd like used. We sit in the chairs before we sell them. If a workshop won't let us in to the floor, we don't buy from them.
Halden Joinery — Aarhus, Denmark
Three generations of joinery, eight craftsmen and one apprentice. Halden makes our oak chairs and tables. Their floor has the smell of fresh-cut oak and the sound of a single hand plane being passed back and forth. They sign every piece on the underside in pencil — initials and the year.
Olga's Pottery — Porto, Portugal
A converted barn outside Porto, one wheel, one kiln, one Olga. She throws every stoneware lamp base herself, glazes them in batches of six, and writes a small note on a card that goes in each box. When we asked her to scale up she said no, and that was the right answer.
The other nine
A Yorkshire wool mill (since 1844). A Tuscan leather tannery (vegetable-tanned, family-run). A Suzhou silk weaver (third generation). A Lisbon cork workshop. A Murano glass blower. A Bavarian metal spinner. A Kyoto paper maker. A Catalan basket weaver. A Brittany rope-twister. Each gets their own profile page, slowly.
Our promise to them
No reverse auctions, no race to the bottom. Multi-year minimum commitments. Fifty percent paid on order, fifty on shipment — never on delivery. We carry materials in advance so they can plan. When demand spikes we don't ask them to skip steps; we let lead times grow. Patience is the only real luxury we sell.