Estampille 52, high-end cabinetry

November 2024 91 avenue Daumesnil, Paris 12

In this workshop created in 2011 and taken over together in 2019, Paul Mazet and Fantin Mayer-Peraldi work with wood, combining traditional craftsmanship and the latest technologies to offer modern and bespoke creations inspired by the fifties. Discovery.

Sublimated wood

Floating shelves, dual-purpose coffee tables that can also serve as small benches, spiral armchairs with trompe l'œil effects, hanging bookshelves, as well as smaller items like trays or cutting boards... In the Estampille 52 workshop, a team of five to seven cabinetmakers, led by Paul Mazet and Fantin Mayer-Peraldi, transforms wood into original, elegant, and contemporary pieces of furniture.

« Here, we enjoy stretching our minds, » warns Fantin Mayer-Peraldi. « Our creations are never simple, basic pieces. We draw a lot, by hand at first, then aided by digital tools. We touch on everything and set no limits. »

One of the strengths of Estampille 52? Prototyping and bespoke solutions, which the workshop offers by combining artisanal skills—such as assembly, sanding, and waxing done by hand—with the use of modern technologies. « We indeed use numerical control, which allows us to design custom mechanisms tailored to specific layouts or particular pieces of furniture, » explains the co-manager. For each project, therefore, there is a unique solution.

Associated and complementary

« For ecological and ethical reasons, we do not use any exotic wood species, » specifies Fantin Mayer-Peraldi. « Only European species. So it's primarily oak, walnut, and larch. » This condition is important to both managers of Estampille 52 and does not detract from the beauty of their creations.

Meeting in the classes of the École Boulle while following a training course in cabinetry, Paul and Fantin decided to take over the Estampille workshop in 2019 when the founding owner moved to Canada to pursue new projects. « Paul was then the workshop manager at Estampille 52, and I was self-employed, » recounts Fantin.

Now partners, the two managers of the cabinetry workshop have discovered a valuable complementarity in their work, in addition to an obvious common point: a love of woodworking. « Paul is very focused on the material, and I tend to focus on the form, » comments Fantin. « Often, our creations start from an idea or a desire that we develop together, with Paul. We are perfectly complementary. »

It is by collaborating in this way that the two cabinetmakers designed one of the flagship pieces of their collection: a room divider, born from a layout for a private client, which combines different materials for a result that is both technical and original. « With this object, we created something strong, with a real story and a high level of finish, particularly because it incorporates several mechanisms that required a lot of work and involved many people. And the aesthetic result is also very refined. »

Enhancing a craft

Originally, Estampille 52 primarily catered to individuals and interior designers, but the cabinetry workshop now mainly collaborates with designers and galleries, such as the Parisian gallery Kolkhoze.

Its driving force? A taste for beautiful things and the desire to share this passion for artisanal know-how as widely as possible. « Here, at the Viaduc des Arts, we are lucky to be surrounded by other artisans, making this place a stronghold of Parisian craftsmanship. A true solidarity has been established, along with a dynamic that pushes us every day to do more for the renewal of craftsmanship and the appreciation of handmade work, » assures Fantin Mayer-Peraldi.

It is in this spirit that Estampille 52 is also keen to train young generations and those transitioning into careers in woodworking. « Craftsmanship is completely relevant today, driven by an increasingly strong ecological awareness and a growing interest in high-quality, beautiful objects. It’s extraordinary to have symbolic places, like the former Faubourg Saint-Antoine, to encourage this renewal and ensure that, in the years to come, the trend strengthens even further. »

Estampille 52
91 avenue Daumesnil, Paris 12
estampille52.fr
© Photo : Nicolas Scordia

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