Hermes Festival des Metiers at the Saatchi Gallery - Part 1

Hermes is holding a special artisan festival at the

Saatchi Gallery in London until the 27th of May.

This event is to showcase the tradition and artisanal skills of each "metier" or craft.  If you are in London or this event is coming to a city near you then I must strongly urge you to go.

I adore porcelain of any type let alone Hermes.

One of the few collections I have is of Hermes porcelain so this section interested me no end and I could have stayed for hours!

This artisan was Christine and she was originally a drafts person for architects and was very adept at drawing which led her to hand painting her niche which is porcelain trays.  

She explained that each color painted on the tray is put 

in the kiln for at least 7 hours.  

She said that each color takes on a unique temperature 
according to the dye.

For those of you familiar with Hermes porcelain, 

Christina is the one who makes all the tiger series!

She says that the platinum used on the trays is so costly that only the top experts are allowed to use it as a small bottle costs about 3000 euros so wastage is not encouraged.

She hand paints that freehand!!
Each tray takes about 10 days to produce.

The different stages of the evolution of a porcelain tray.

This is for those who can't be there so I have taken 

some extra photos to demonstrate.

The ones below were another series that she was working on but for the record the tiger tray is one of the most sought after and the one that requires the most expertise.

The artisan below is the tie maker.  She is involved in the cutting of the blocks needed as seen to her left.

She shows how to make the tie from start to finish.

Below was the engraver. 

Now this is a very niche part of the silk production.  
The artisan must reinterpret a drawing to be transferred to templates for the printing press.

This illustration was of a recent design called Wakoni.

Depending on the number of colors that a picture requires, the engraver must make a separate template for each color.

This illustration involves 47 colors which means it requires 

47 separate sheets.

Overlapping templates to make a whole.

The drawing below was a very complicated process even 

for an experienced engraver.

This was a special electronic pen to draw on the plastic sheets.

The leather artisan was making a Kelly bag in Rose Jaipur. 

I adore this color but it doesn't translate well in photos.

She is buffing the edges of the handle.
Just for those who might be one of those continuity spotters, 
I went to the exhibition twice as there was too much to see.
That is why she is wearing her amazing collier de chien bracelet and a light blue shirt one day and then the next day she wasn't...

Hand stitching the edges of the handle.

These are all the tools needed for leather work.

Some examples of the bags they made on site!

People were offering to buy them there and then. But they were solely for exhibition purposes...

A Jypsiere bag in its separate components ready to be stitched.

Protecting the hardware while working around the leather.

All the thread is matched exactly to the leather.

They even made watches on the spot!

The watchmaker based in Switzerland has all her pieces laid out in order in front of her.  She had a lovely watch herself.

Some of the pieces were so miniscule that she had to use magnetic screws to hold it in place.

Some of the watches she was making on site and some she had just finished producing!

I will be posting Part 2 tomorrow which will show Hermes silk and jewellry expertise.  I hope you join me again tomorrow.