Accolay

Grouped under the surname Accolay (name of a village located in Yonne), four former students of Alexandre Kostanda (A. BOUTAUD, Louis DANGON, Slavic PALEY and RAUDE), created, in 1945, one of the largest centers in French ceramic productions. Active from 1945 to 1983, their pottery stood out for its great technical inventiveness and extremely abundant production.

The community of potters took advantage of the French national road 6 proximity, between Paris and Lyon, by making of petrol stations their permanent exhibition places, thus benefiting of the migration of Parisian tourists. Their exhibition buildings, inspired by the constructions of "Le Mans" circuit, became the compulsory stopover for vacationers in transit.

This way of marketing continued at the entrance of Vermenton until the factories closed in 1983. Tourists had started deserting the place a few years before, with the creation of the Lyonnaise motorway which changed their journey.

© Formes Utiles, Nov. 2020