Royal Limoges

227 years, one place, one material. Royal Limoges makes its porcelain where it has always been made, from crushed kaolin to hand-applied decoration. The Casseaux kiln isn't a relic. It's a witness still at work.

It all starts with kaolin. In 1768, near Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, 40 km from Limoges, a deposit was discovered that would change everything, the same white clay the Chinese had kept secret for centuries. Limoges became the porcelain capital. In 1797, François Alluaud, chemist and entrepreneur, founded the first factory in the buildings of the former Casseaux convent. The wood-fired kiln he built is still there, classified as a Historic Monument, it's the oldest visible porcelain kiln in France. The factory changed hands and names over the centuries. Charles Field Haviland took over, then it became GDA (Gérard, Dufraisseix and Abbot), then SLPG. Each era left its patterns, shapes, innovations. But the thread never broke: porcelain has been made at the same location since 1797. In 2023, an unexpected chapter: Tania Bulhoes, a Brazilian designer based in Rio, acquired Royal Limoges. A foreigner at the helm of the oldest symbol of French porcelain, the move surprised many. But Bulhoes knows tableware: her own brand in Brazil is successful. Her gamble: modernize without erasing, open the brand internationally without abandoning the Limoges factory. The 80 artisans are still there. The paste is still made on site. The Casseaux kiln watches over.

What sets Royal Limoges apart is total verticality: from ground kaolin to hand-applied décor, everything happens in the same manufacture for 227 years. The Casseaux kiln, classified as a historic monument, still operates. Pieces go through 30 manufacturing steps and three successive firings. The Royal Limoges white is recognized as one of the purest in the world, luminous, deep, revealing the quality of local kaolin.