We’re calling it now: This is the new company to watch on the Eastern Seaboard.
We’ve been taking note of Asheville, North Carolina–based East Fork since the end of 2016, when potter Sarah Kersten tipped us off to their storage jars; we were quickly enamored of their line of sturdy, unfussy ceramics in muted earth tones (see East Fork Pottery: A North Carolina Studio from a Matisse Heir). Back then, it was a small company helmed by ceramicist Alex Matisse (the great-grandson of Henri Matisse and step-grandson of Marcel Duchamp), and his wife Connie; they’d built East Fork—kiln included—from the ground up on a rural piece of land in the North Carolina mountains. When we last checked in a few months ago, we noted that, in addition to their large-scale but hand-thrown line of ceramics, they were expanding into the world of unusual kitchen tools and curios (see Shopper’s Diary: East Fork Pottery in Asheville, NC).
When the East Fork team was in New York a couple of weeks back, I stopped in to talk with Alex and Connie in person—only to discover that East Fork is primed to take off over the next few months. They’ve grown from a small team to about 30 employees, are preparing for a move to a new, bigger factory; their coveted ceramics are showing up on the tables of the newest restaurants in the South—including Cúrate, Husk, and Nightbell, plus restaurants in New York City, Toronto, and Dubai—and they’re offering a wider range of kitchen tools that we haven’t seen elsewhere. “None of us who buy for the store came from any sort of true retail background, so we source objects purely because we love them and the people who make them. We only sell objects that we would—and do!— use and love in our own homes,” Connie says.
Here’s a look at a few of East Fork’s new kitchen offerings, plus their first seasonal collection of glazes—earthy Utah and Taro, a pale lavender—available now for a limited time. Take note—you’ll be seeing them everywhere soon.
More makers, behind the scenes:
- Studio Visit: The Iris Hantverk Workshop in Stockholm, Sweden
- Shopper’s Diary: Soukra Tunisian Goods
- Eco Textiles: A Paris Workshop that Creates Subtly Dyed Goods for the Home
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