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Bernard Azema

  • TPS bois
  • Woodturner
  • La Tour-Sur-Orb, France
  • Master Artisan
Bernard Azema Woodturner
Contact
French, English
Hours:
Monday to Friday 07:00 - 17:00
Phone:
+33 681661155
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A fine challenge

  • • Bernard specialises in making trembleurs, finely turned wooden ornaments
  • • This meticulous craft was famous in the 17th century
  • • Trembleurs were originally made of ivory

Bernard Azema specialises in making 'trembleurs', finely crafted wooden ornaments derived from a single long piece of wood. Through his extraordinary mastery of woodturning, Bernard pushes the boundaries of the craft to create various patterns from a single piece of wood, which is made as long and thin as possible. Bernard discovered this 17th century craft by chance and his fascination for it grew over several years until he decided to start making trembleurs himself. He can now carve pieces of wood up to 150cms long with ornamental detail as small as a fraction of a millimetre. Committed to sharing his art, Bernard organises courses for beginners and established turners. He has also written a book detailing the history and the making of these fascinating objects.

Read the full interview

Works

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Detail of Chinese lantern trembleur

The trembleur is a turned and carved wooden ornament made from a single piece of wood. This design in the shape of a Chinese lantern is part of a trembleur of 80cm high and 1.2mm filament. The central part is treated as a flattened ball, meaning it is pierced in its axis with 16 holes alternating in diameter between 1mm and 0.3mm. Two micro-perforated rows of 48 holes at 0.2mm are used to highlight and frame this pattern.

Diameter 1.2 cm

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Alatern trembleur

The trembleur is a turned and carved wooden ornament made from a single piece of wood. This finely executed trembleur is presented on a wooden plate, which is lacquered in satin black to increase the contrast and highlight the complex patterns within the object, namely a planet, a stylised flower, a hollowed out helical case and a spearhead with a quadruple conical torso.

Height 28 cm
Width 14.5 cm

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Boxwood trembleur

The trembleur is a turned and carved wooden ornament made from a single piece of wood. This trembleur is presented on a plate of oxidised ash wood with a copper wax finish. The head is in the shape of a stylised flower in full bloom. The filament of the trembleur has a diameter of less than a millimetre.

Height 34 cm
Width 14.5 cm

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Holm oak trembleur

Here the trembleur is displayed as a mural. This is a particularly difficult piece, as this type of wood is not well suited to this type of work. Its composition of complex motifs includes a polyhedron hollowed out by multiple micro holes. The piece is presented on a contrasting sandblasted and bleached ash wood plate. The trembleur's filament has a diameter of less than a millimetre.

Height 42 cm
Width 14.5 cm

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Pistachio trembleur

The dark pistachio wood of this trembleur is contrasted by the sandblasted and whitened ash board upon which it is displayed. Pistachio wood from the Mediterranean garrigue is very pleasant to work with and the beauty of its veining is exceptional. This trembleur's filament has a diameter of less than a millimetre.

Height 32 cm
Width 14.5 cm

Enjoy an experience with Bernard Azema

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