“I work for them for free,” says French photographer François Coquerel. He’s talking about his friends Lilya Turki and Antonio Fazio, the husband and wife co-founders of Archyvio, a design studio that sells vintage objects. When Coquerel photographed a selection of their ceramics and glassware at his apartment in Versailles, the “payment” was his pick from the collection. He chose a rare and highly sought-after pair of stoneware urns, created in the 1930s by Swedish artist and designer Wilhelm Kåge, in a vivid-green glaze – pieces that Turki and Fazio had been eyeing up for their own collection. “Oh, Antonio’s face!” exclaims Coquerel, laughing. “He hasn’t recovered yet.” Fazio smiles: “I think, François, in the future we need to rediscuss the terms of our collaboration…”
The living room, with a Pierre Chapo bench displaying a B&N ’60s accordion vase by Linde Burkhardt. The tall ceramic vase on the floor is by Luigi Santi. On the coffee table is a ’40s glass fruit bowl by Alfredo Barbini and a black carafe with red stopper by Anne Nilsson, 1996 © François Coquerel
Coquerel first met Turki, a Swiss-Tunisian creative director, 10 years ago; she was working at Marie Claire magazine and hired him for a shoot. Coquerel’s focus is still-life photography; he has created campaigns for brands such as The Row, Hermès and Tolix furniture, as well as editorial for magazines including HTSI and Harper’s Bazaar France.
