Vallauris is a seaside commune in the South East of France, near Cannes. It's name means the golden valley or valley of gold, so named by the Romans because of it's pinkish red clay.

 Although pottery has been made here since the Roman era it was after a deadly epidemic in Genoa in the 16th century when Italian families settled here that pottery activity by individual artisans really began. During the 17th century, pottery was a major economic force in Vallauris, marking the beginning of a tradition that persists today.

In the 1800s the railway helped potters organise commercially, large factories grew and pottery was exported by rail and sea. Kitchenware became Vallauris' speciality. Terracotta pottery enamelled with a clear glaze is the distinct trademark of Vallauris pottery.

In the 1900s modernisation brought a decline in artisinal pottery and pottery activity declined.

However, after WWII in 1948 Picasso came to live in Vallauris where he stayed until 1955. Picasso developed a fasination with the techniques of ceramics and greatly contributed to a renaissance of the pottery industry in the 1950s. Of course the presence of Picasso drew artists like Jean Marasi and others.

Vallauris became fashionable and in the years 1950-1960 Vallauris ceramics developed as an art form.  The craft continues today with decorative ceramics and tableware.

Some Vallauris pottery is immediately recogniseable, with it's bright colours and lava effects.

Others are more sedate, such as the beautiful green Vallauris.