Our story
A supply company run by potters — we sell what we use at our own wheels.
Grivelle began at a single wheel in a cold corner of a shared studio — and the slow realisation that the gear most beginners are sold is the gear most likely to put them off. We set out to stock only the tools, clays and kilns we'd happily hand to a friend on their first day.
How it started
The studio grew from a frustration shared by two potters who spent years buying tools that bent, wires that frayed and clays that fought the wheel. Every season the same lesson repeated itself: good equipment disappears in the hand and lets you concentrate on the clay, while bad equipment is all you can think about.
So we started keeping a list. The cutting wire that never rusts. The boxwood rib worth replacing every other tool for. The mid-fire stoneware that centres for a beginner and still satisfies a production thrower. The list became a stockroom, and the stockroom became Grivelle.
Today we work with a small group of makers and manufacturers who share our standards — wooden tools turned from close-grained pear and boxwood, kilns built to reach cone 10 honestly, glazes tested on real pots before they reach a single shelf. If we wouldn't use it ourselves, we don't sell it.
The studio today
We keep a working studio alongside the shop. Every clay body is thrown, trimmed and fired before it goes in the catalogue; every glaze is dipped, poured and brushed across test tiles and full forms. The mugs, bowls and dinnerware in our Studio Pieces range are thrown on the same wheels we sell, glazed with the same glazes, fired in the same kilns.
Our range is deliberately tight: a ladder of wheels and kilns from first tabletop to production workhorse, three core clay bodies, a considered set of glazes, and the hand tools that actually earn their place on the bench.
Values
01
Tools that disappear in the hand
A good tool lets you forget it exists and concentrate on the clay. We choose every rib, wire and loop for balance and longevity — not for the lowest price or the fullest blister pack.
02
Tested on real pots
We throw with every clay body and fire every glaze before it reaches the shelf. The cone ratings, shrinkage figures and finishes we publish come from our own kiln, not a supplier's datasheet.
03
Built to be handed down
A wheel or a kiln should be a once-in-a-decade purchase. We stock equipment overbuilt to last, and we'd rather sell you the right machine once than a cheaper one twice.
From sample to shelf
Sourcing
We seek out makers and manufacturers who take materials seriously — turners who work boxwood and pear, foundries who cast a true flywheel, glaze chemists who formulate for real studio conditions rather than a lab.
Throwing & testing
Every clay body is centred, pulled and trimmed on our own wheels. We note how it behaves wet, how it dries, how it survives the kiln. Tools are used through a full studio session before we commit.
Firing
Glazes are tested across their full cone range on test tiles and finished forms. We fire bisque and glaze loads in the same kilns we sell, so the results you read are the results you'll get.
Stocking & advice
Only what passes goes in the catalogue — with honest notes on what it's good for and what it isn't. Ask us anything: we'd rather you bought the right thing than the expensive thing.
The team
HEAD POTTER
Team member — pending
Responsible for clay and glaze testing, throwing the Studio Pieces range and choosing every tool we stock. Two decades at the wheel and a long-standing obsession with celadon.
SOURCING & KILNS
Team member — pending
Manages relationships with makers and manufacturers, kiln testing and installation advice, logistics and fulfilment. Trained as a kiln technician before joining the studio.