Meet The Maker: Maison Balzac
Meet the Maker
Glass shrimp, glass olives, glass grapes. None of it meant for the top shelf.
- Where
- Sydney, Australia
- Makes
- Hand-blown borosilicate glass, linen, porcelain, fragrance
- Founded
- 2012
For Elise Pioch Balzac, the founder of homeware brand Maison Balzac, inspiration is everywhere. It hides in the notes of a Debussy interlude and nestles in the buds of a rosemary bush she passes on a walk. It’s tucked away in her childhood memories and is sprawled across the bustling streets of Sydney, where she lives now. This openness to influence, and her ability to wield it, has cemented her homeware brand as a must-shop for those who consider themselves to be in the know.
Which, as it stands, includes our team here at fête. We’re big fans of how Maison Balzac’s collection marries French refinement with a touch of Australian effervescence. Her work is playful yet emotional, interwoven with moments of sentimentality. Her own warmth comes through in her pieces.
Maison Balzac was created in 2012 as an outlet for its founder’s boundless creativity. Its debut collection consisted of five candles inspired by distinct scent memories from her childhood. These included, according to the brand’s website, the orange juice her mother hand-squeezed for her in the morning and the roses her grandmother used to grow in her garden.
Today, its offerings has expanded to include what Balzac calls “jewelry for the table: a selection of whimsical decor offerings imbued with that same sense of nostalgia, even if it’s less obviously done.
Her new collection draws on surrealism, but it’s made for everyday use and wear. A simple glass serving platter is fixed with dainty pink shrimp-shaped handles, and a martini glass comes adorned with a hand-blown glass olive at its center. A wine decanter is topped with a cluster of surreal glass grapes. The matching glasses feature a coordinating bunch where stems would normally be. Even the simpler pieces, a carafe and matching cup amongst them, come drenched in warm, sun-soaked hues of burnt orange and sky blue.
These are pieces made to be shown off and shared with the ones closest to you, not tucked away on the top shelf of your cupboard for a special occasion. They’re meticulously designed yet somehow unfussy, the perfect backdrop for long nights spent alongside close friends. They also reflect Pioch Balzac’s penchant for creating joy in even the simplest of settings.
“What guests remember the most is how you made them feel”
It’s easy to picture any of these around your table after a long meal, the richly hued accents glimmering in the flicker of a well-worn candle, burgundy and olive splashed across empty plates and half-drunk bottles of wine. They’re conversation starters without being flashy enough to disrupt the moment, designed to create a feeling of togetherness that lingers after the night has ended.
It’s that feeling, that warmth, that Balzac looks for when she hosts her own dinner parties. Amongst her top tips? Never cook something new before friends arrive—her go-tos include signature recipes like beef bourguignon and pears poached in red wine with dark chocolate sauce—and to focus on the feeling.
“What guests remember the most is how you made them feel,” she tells us. “This emotion lingers for a long time, but the details of the menu or playlist will be forgotten shortly after.”