Marché Potier d'Auvillar

Auvillar, a village of potters since the 18th century

While Auvillar's pottery tradition is millennia-old — the Garonne has always provided clay and silt suitable for pottery — it was in the 18th century that it reached its industrial and artistic peak. From 1739 to 1909, Auvillar housed a renowned earthenware factory in the Southwest, whose refined productions — plates decorated in blue camaieu, terrines, tureens, and ornate table pieces — rivaled the best French earthenware of the era. The Musée du Vieil Auvillar preserves an exceptional collection of this Auvillar earthenware, a testament to this glorious artisanal past.

Today, Auvillar remains a village of artists and artisans. Contemporary potters and ceramicists have settled in its narrow streets and stone houses, perpetuating this ancestral vocation in their own way. The Marché Potier — held for over thirty years — was born from this history: a way to celebrate and extend the village's ceramic tradition by bringing together the best potters in France each October in this exceptional heritage setting.

About fifty potters and ceramicists from all over France

Each year, the Marché Potier d'Auvillar brings together about fifty potters and ceramicists carefully selected by a jury for the quality and originality of their work. The exhibitors come from all over France — Brittany, Alsace, Languedoc, Auvergne, Provence, Burgundy — representing the diversity of contemporary approaches to art ceramics.

The pieces offered cover a very wide aesthetic spectrum: functional ceramics for daily use (tableware, bowls, cups, plates), stoneware fired in wood or anagama kilns, refined translucent porcelain, raku with its random and dramatic finish, silky-smooth terra sigillata, exceptional glazes, sculpted pieces, and artistic installations. From kitchen pots to gallery masterpieces, the Marché Potier d'Auvillar covers the entire field of French contemporary ceramic creation.

The clay sculpture competition

One of the most spectacular attractions of the Marché Potier is the clay sculpture competition held in the Halle square. Selected potters compete live, in front of the public, to create a sculpted piece on a given theme in a few hours. This live sculpture competition allows visitors to observe the modeler's gestures in real-time, the techniques for working with raw clay, and how an amorphous mass gradually transforms into an expressive and finished form. The result — judged by a specialized jury — is presented at the end of the competition.

This public artistic "battle" format has become one of the hallmarks of the Marché Potier d'Auvillar, attracting spectators curious to see a ceramic work come to life before their eyes within the constrained timeframe of the competition.

The public modeling workshop

The Marché Potier doesn't just invite observation; it invites participation. The modeling workshop offers everyone, children and adults alike, the chance to get their hands on clay under the guidance of experienced potters. Introduction to old-fashioned pottery wheels, hand modeling, coil building, or slab construction: different techniques are offered depending on the workshop, allowing everyone to have a sensory and creative experience with clay.

These workshops are often eye-opening for visitors who have never touched clay before: the simultaneous resistance and plasticity of the earth, the concentration required to raise a wall, the physical and almost meditative pleasure of working with clay — all discoveries that explain the enduring success of ceramics as an artistic and artisanal practice.

The circular hall, an incomparable setting

Auvillar's 18th-century circular hall is the main venue for the Marché Potier. Built on a circular plan — unique in the Southwest — with its golden stone columns and central lantern, it forms a scenic space of remarkable beauty and acoustics. The potters' stalls are arranged in a semicircle, with the pieces interacting with the filtered light from the dome. The 32nd edition, on October 11 and 12, 2025, confirmed this market's place among the major art ceramics events in the Southwest.