At Atelier du Cuivre, a Normandy copper cookware workshop founded in 1850, 60-year-old Francis watches as tin melts over the fire, pooling inside a copper pan. In one practised sweep, he spreads the molten tin across the surface, sealing it in a gleaming coat.
As the resident tinner, he has practiced the fading craft of rétamage (re-tinning) for 45 years, essential to make these pans food-safe. In April, he will retire, taking nearly half a century of knowledge with him.
Just a stone’s throw away, Yves Gauthier raises the shutters of his shop, as he has done every morning since 1973. Inside, polished pots beckon under the soft light, but buyers are scarce. “Now and then, an American tourist will walk in and spend €2,000 (approximately $2,800) on cookware,” says his son Herve. “But it’s rare.”
For centuries, the coppersmiths of Villedieu-les-Poêles, a town in Normandy, have been the invisible force behind France’s culinary dominance, forging the tools that powered the country’s greatest kitchens. While chefs garnered global fame, these craftsmen go without a name.
These artisans trace their lineage to the Knights of Saint John, who, in the 12th century, returned from the Middle East with coppersmithing techniques. The town’s location along medieval trade routes connecting Normandy’s seaside ports to inland France helped transform it into a crucible of metalwork.
The imported copper was used in cookware, church bells, and armour that shaped the country’s kitchens, cathedrals, and battlefields.
Now, that legacy is fading. A town that once buzzed with 39 workshops has only two.
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