In search for copper vats

Adventure buying copper vats

Copper vats, originally for making cheese have been a bit of a ‘thing’ at Louise Hall Decorative. In fact, they in part, gave me my desire to start the company. I searched for a while in France on my early buying trips and I eventually found the perfect one, swiftly followed by another, from the same antiques dealer who has been my main source all along.

That first purchase was after being dropped off by my husband at a station on the way back from a skiing trip, thinking it would all be a breeze, but at the time, the French ‘Gilets Jaunes’ demonstrations were still on, and I found myself stranded at a station in the South-West of France miles from the station I was actually meant to get to in order to collect my hire car and continue on. Whilst Arles is lovely, it wasn’t remotely where I wanted to be! An expensive taxi ride later, I finally got to my car for a long drive, feeling slightly worn out. But my efforts paid off, and the following day, I found a beautiful copper cheese vat which was the start of many to come through my door and onto various client’s gardens.

Sadly, that most beautiful one was stolen from my premises, which still irks me! Copper is a very valuable commodity and I only hope that it is sitting as a water feature in someone’s lovely garden rather than being melted down.

Copper vats have historically been used for cheese making both in the Alps and in other cheese making areas of France such as near the Pyrenées. Mostly, I have found vats from 170cm to over 200cm, though I think 180cm is the perfect size for a water feature. I have sold larger ones as outdoor baths or hot tubs – two of them even going back to France to beautiful Provence villas – they are very well travelled!

French antique garden items like these are definitely becoming rarer and whilst I still have two for sale at the time of writing this blog, I think the good quality copper vats with a beautiful Verdigris patina will gradually run out as French cheese makers are using different equipment now.

I drove out to France last November (2022) down to the Alps and stayed with my lovely friends Cindy and Paddy Burrowes so that I could explore the mountains in search of more copper cheese vats. The weather was a bit grim at times, though whilst there, I woke up to the first snow which was exciting. Cindy and I drove around the mountain villages, stopping at cheese cooperatives as well as local farms (our trainers got quite muddy in the process) to ask if they had any old copper vats for sale...I have to say, hilariously, all of the farmers and shopkeepers we asked looked at us as if we had two heads…all rather fun but rather fruitless.

But, I am happy to report, that despite our initial travelling efforts up narrow mountain roads and beyond that came to nothing, I did eventually find three lovely copper vats which were then transported back to the UK and subsequently I sold as water features and garden planters which now have happy homes! Even if you don’t plant them or create a water feature, positioned in the middle of a circular driveway or down a long path, they form a beautiful garden sculpture to view.

Smaller copper vats of around 80-100cm are rounder in shape and were and are still used in some locations for making chocolate. These are also lovely antique pieces to use as garden planters or as display.

Copper cheese vats