A fruitful trip to Normandy, France
“You simply couldn’t find French antiques in Tennessee back in the eighties,” says Karin Eaton. It was 1985 in France ,during the scouting trip, Eaton, a former fashion-model-turned antiques- buyer, discovered Pierre Picard’s hand-forged iron pieces and was immediately captivated. “I suddenly saw a gorgeous jumble of hand-forged iron – tables, chairs, candelabras – and I felt like I was shot through the heart“.
Picard, French “Maître Artisan”, had established his atelier in a small village in Normandy in 1966. Along with decorative pieces for the home, he also excelled at restoration work on historic landmarks, with work ranging from refashioning a double stairway for the Casino in Deauville to a 17th-century gate at his village’s 16th-century church. Eaton, fluent in French, spent a few hours with Picard and his wife, selecting pieces to be sold in her family store in Nashville, Made in France.
From a prolific transatlantic collaboration…
By 1988, Eaton recognized the potential of Picard’s work and founded Ironware International to distribute his pieces across the U.S. “I was very fortunate to glean the principles of iron design from Monsieur Picard,” says Eaton. By 1991, Eaton began designing pieces for Picard to create, drawing inspiration from design trends and celebrating the exceptional skills of the artisans in Normandy. Her sketches were then drawn to scale, prototyped by Picard, and finished by artisans in the Ironware Nashville studio to adapt them for American homes and businesses.
Ironware International operated in 18 showrooms nationwide, fostering a transatlantic relationship between the two businesses and their clients. Each piece was handmade, the collection of nearly 600 items drew inspiration from European artists and designers, such as the Fleming andirons, which evoke Matisse, or the Diego beds and tables, inspired by and named after Diego Giacometti.
After Picard retired in 2004, Picard’s son-in-law, Thierry Duboscq, took over the forge. Today Duboscq’s son and daughter, David and Mathilde, the third generation of the Ferronnerie Picard-Duboscq, continue the tradition of using ancient blacksmithing techniques for residential structures and restoration work on historic landmarks, such as the Chateau de Versailles, the Dior building and the Arc de Triumph for the 2024 Olympic games.
…to a creative domestic transformation.
In 2020, sourcing and distribution challenges during the pandemic led to the separation of the two companies after 30 years of collaboration. Eaton successfully found passionate and talented American blacksmiths who embraced the challenge in keeping the Ironware catalog of creations alive. Among them, Matt Olseng, along with his business partner and blacksmith Kara Jerden, became the owners of Ironware in 2023. (See more in About Us)
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