The French Potter’s craft, and warm studio space at a vineyard in Central Otago, are the result of a winding journey involving hot summers, rolling wineries and a very expensive kiln.
Yannick Fourbet chuckles frequently about his “French ways” as he relays how he came to be The French Potter.
Talking passionately about his unique craft, he even puts a humorous spin on why a pot made by the French Potter comes at a price. “Merde,” he says laughing. “People really do not understand because they tell me that their designer gear is fake and wonder why I get upset. It’s like telling me you have bought a knockoff of my pot at Mitre 10. As an artisan it breaks my heart, we have to protect our intellectual property.”
With a Gallic shrug, Yannick admits his pots aren’t cheap, but for good reason. “It’s not because it is a work of art. What I do is halfway between art and craftsmanship and craftsmanship involves knowledge, time spent developing products, and infrastructure, which all costs money — it’s a proper business.”
You will not see what Yannick does anywhere else in New Zealand. To make his large horticultural pots he stands at a wheel, suspended in steel framework and throws clay on to sisal ropes shaped with plywood formwork. The resulting rope imprint on the inside of the pots is his mark.
Yannick learned his technique from a potter who was on the cusp of retiring in France and this is a story he tells enthusiastically because it involves wine, which plays a big part of his New Zealand life.
Yannick says he just happened to be watching the potter’s demonstration at a show near his family’s pottery in the South of France. “There was a crowd gathered around because the technique is quite extraordinary. It is also quite physical, and he was out there under the sun with nothing to drink, so I ask the guy in the little brasserie across the road for a pitcher of rosé, two glasses and a lot of ice. I went back to the potter and nonchalantly said, ‘Are you thirsty by any chance?’ He looked at me as if I were God and as we sipped and talked, I said I wished that he would teach me his technique. He said, ‘Oh that’s why you bring me wine.’ It wasn’t, but I asked that he think about it, and eventually he transmitted his knowledge to me and a couple of others on my team who wanted to learn.”
The New Zealand wine connection is wife Philippa’s Domaine Rewa vineyard in Central Otago, where Yannick has built his studio because The French Potter is very much part of the business. They are experimenting with the ageing of wine in amphoras that Yannick has started to make. “So, you see, I got to where I am today with wine. I could see how wine could sell pots and pots could sell wine,” he says. “I am working in a vineyard in Central Otago, life is good.”
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Advertise with NZME.There have been struggles but Yannick radiates positivity as he talks about the latest one, his kiln, which has set him back a fair few years and dollars. The kiln is a whopping eight cubic metres to accommodate pots that can weigh up to half a tonne, but temperature issues were causing the pots to crack and a system controller had to be specifically designed.
“My kiln costs as much as a Rolls-Royce, but I can now sleep easy knowing that the pots are okay once they go into the kiln, and I can work on fine-tuning my technique and developing my business.”
Part of that development is getting New Zealanders to understand the bespoke side of his work. He likes to work with clients to design pots for their specific outdoor spaces. Patinas and jewel-toned glazes are unique, and he can incorporate logos, crests and moulded decorations such as garlands onto the highly decorative yet functional pots.
Ideally, people would come to the studio or look at his website to get an idea of what they might like but he finds that most people want to buy what they see. “It’s a good problem to have, they sell the minute I make them, but it makes it harder for me to illustrate my bespoke abilities.”
To ensure stock levels for these buyers Yannick brings classic Anduze vases and photophores into New Zealand from the family pottery in France that is now run by his sister. “They have the capacity to do these things, so they make them for me, and I can focus on my bespoke work.”
It also keeps him connected to France, which he says he misses from time to time. “I get a bit melancholy about certain things, like the old buildings and flea markets.” Yannick was once an antique dealer and he keeps his hand in, bringing French finds into New Zealand, particularly garden antiques and paraphernalia that complement his pots.
He thinks New Zealand is wonderful and loves his life here with Philippa and their 7-year-old twin boys. He had never visited before he met his Otago girl but had always dreamed of coming. “It’s a country that I looked up to, through rugby and wine,” he smiles. “Everyone talks about New Zealand sauvignon blanc, but I have never been fond of it, even from Bordeaux. I tried pinot noir first. Nothing beats a good pinot noir with a camembert or a brie. That’s lunch for me, I would have that every day if I could, but I am 56 and need to be careful about what I eat and drink. I have to stay young for my boys.”
In between the studio and looking after the boys and Philippa, who has a full-on job in finance, Yannick likes to spend time fishing and diving. He has a fondness for adventurous water sports that developed waterskiing with crocodiles on the side of the riverbanks in Cameroon where he was born and lived for 15 years. He moved back to France with his parents at 15 and left for California when he was 19 to study marine biology. “I did this for a couple of years, but I felt like a lab rat working under the neon lights all day. I realised that I needed to be outside and working with people.”
At a difficult time in his life, he stumbled his way into a job at the French Pottery, which he eventually bought with his father. They struggled through the GFC and, when business was once again on the up and he was exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower Show, he met Philippa who was working in London.
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Advertise with NZME.Philosophically, Yannick says, “My life of pottery and wine is much more me. We do things in life, and we don’t even know why we are doing them, but when we look back and connect the dots we say, ‘Ah, that is why.’ My life has flowed well by following my instincts and being aware that I could do things that I like. A lot of people are doing things they don’t like out of necessity and aren’t aware of that thing that makes life a bit different.”
As he philosophises, we take a closer look at his logo. Yannick hand writes The French Potter New Zealand around the imprint of a scallop shell from Bluff. “From its connection to The Camino de Santiago (the walk of the pilgrims from France to Southern Spain), the shell has come to represent pilgrimage. It is the symbol of the voyager, and it suits me being French in New Zealand,” Yannick says with a flourish.
“Back home, when my friends talk about me, they say, ‘We’ve got a friend who likes very difficult situations’. It makes me laugh, but I am beginning to think I do because … try moving countries at 50 years old with a new wife and two baby boys,” he exclaims. “It is also late in the game to be starting a new business, but I am benefiting from previous experiences, and it helps to be able to laugh at your mistakes.”
“I think that’s the lesson I get from life — don’t take yourself too seriously — and I think you can do this when you are doing something you like. My father told me this and I will tell my children: You are going to spend 100 per cent of your time working — even when you are on holiday your mind will still be working — so you might as well do something you like. That way you don’t need to be on holiday.
“I am lucky to have the support of Philippa, who has a regular income, I wouldn’t be The French Potter without her. Our objective is to ensure that the vineyard and The French Potter can stand on their own two feet and help each other. We’ve diversified Domaine Rewa with The French Potter, but The French Potter is very happy that Domaine Rewa is here.”
Realising another dream, Yannick is working on a series of artistic pots that will be exhibited at The NZ Art Show in Wellington on King’s Birthday Weekend 2024. His horticultural pots can be viewed at Domainerewa/the-french-potter.co.nz
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