Table art: Biot style

For each glass, a breath. For each creation, a presence and an attention. A tradition that will always be avant-garde.
These are glasses that the glassblower´s breath shaped, as he drew inspiration from the molten substance, applying his skills and attention to create objects that radiate beauty, harmony and pleasure.A secret emotion will always be hiding in tradition. Glasses, jugs, chandeliers, vases: only objects expressing precision and rareness that cannot be repeated or reproduced leave La Verrerie de Biot.

Table pleasure is a major art. It invites, it gratifies and it brings together.
The glasses, jugs and pitchers from La Verrerie de Biot embellish any table enhancing the pleasure of get-togethers over a meal. The products come in all different colours depending on the seasons and the master glassblowers’ mood: Gypsum flower, lime blossom, amethyst, Persian blue, …… for the glasses, the jugs, wine pitchers and bottles.

They can be touched, seen and experienced

A family company: a unique know-how

The glass tradition in Provence dates back thousands of years but in Biot everything began in 1956, the year in which La Verrerie de Biot created the bubble glass, mastering the bubble and imprisoning it between two layers of glass to transform a defect (a bubble) into a feature of quality: bubbled glass

The Lechaczynski family took up the torch of the bubbled glass traditions in 1973 and today is still carrying the standard of art crafts high now.

The soul of Biot glasses resides in their bubbles, each glass is unique.

For each bubble, a secret, a breath, a tradition.

The”Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant” (Living Heritage Enterprise) label was created on 2 August 2005 by article 23 of the law in favor of the enterprises to promote the development of firms in possession of an”economic heritage, composed, in particular, of renowned or ancestral,exceptional know-how, based on the mastery of traditional or highly technical techniques and limited to a specific geographic area”.

The label is intended, in particular, to highlight the value of firm sunderpinning French economic and cultural identity and to promote their renown nationally and internationally.

To be awarded this label, firms must meet each of the following criteria:
Be in possession of a specific economic heritage.
Be in possession of an exceptional know-how based on the mastery of traditional or highly technical techniques.

Benefit from wide renown or to have been established in a specific geographic area for many years.

La Verrerie de Biot is very proud of this label that rewards her know-how and unique creativity.

A trade of enthusiasts: the glassblowers

Glass does not exist without its master glassblower. Each creation requires special attention, concentration. The master-glassblower is a magician who uses the secrets of earth and fire to create glass!
He is also a craftsman and a great artist: the originality of an approach, an innate sense of volumes and surfaces, and constant creativity.
The “gamins” or apprentice glassblowers are between 16 and 18 years of age when they are hired at La Verrerie de Biot. They then undergo training passing through 7 successive stages or grades becoming master glassblowers at the end of 8 to 10 years. The organisation of the work takes into account the apprenticeship with the ultimate aim that each “gamin” should become a master glassblower. If the latter has the ability and desire to create, to express his artistic talent through glass, everything is done to help him till he is ready to fend for himself.

Not to be missed
The glassblowers’ studio (Free admission)
15 master glassblowers draw the living substance from the fire, blow, create and model unique objects before visitors´ eyes
Since the hall was opened in 1956, the general public has been able to visit it, encouraged to understand the mysteries of glass manufacture in Biot and admire the craftsmen’s know-how.

“The master glassblowers in La Verrerie de Biot are proud to demonstrate their know-how and pass it on to the “gamins” apprentices,” explains Anne Lechaczynski

A renowned tourist site

Biot, a medieval jewel perched against a backdrop of verdant countryside, is ideally located between Nice and Cannes. It has managed to protect a quality of life and an identity linked to its history and art craft. The arrival of artists such as Fernand Léger, whose museum stands at the foot of the village, and the installation of La Verrerie de Biot, have brought in new creative energy that can be felt in the numerous art and craft workshops in Biot.
The extension of the Sophia Antipolis technology park is today giving a new face to a town that is determinedly turned towards the future. Located in Biot, just a few kilometres from Antibes, La Verrerie de Biot is a true tourist site and groups several key points of interest:

– the glassblowers’ studio,
– Biot Glass Ecomuseum,
– the great showroom,
– The Galerie Internationale du Verre,
– a decoration shop
– a restaurant.

Each year La Verrerie de Biot receives close to 700 000 visitors. Alone, with their families or in a group, they all want one thing: to discover the unique know-how and tradition of La Verrerie de Biot.

Opening hours :

SUMMER
Daily : from 9:30 am to 8:00 pm non stop
Sundays and public holidays : from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm

WINTER
Daily : from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm non stop
Sundays and public holidays : from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm to 6 pm

CLOSED
December 25 and January 1st
ANNUAL CLOSING from January 15 thru January 27 included