Who Founded Master Artisan?
Master Artisan was founded by Jean-Christophe Burckhardt.
Jean-Christophe Burckhardt was born in Switzerland. He trained as a craftsman and designer in Italy and France, where he surrounded himself with the styles that would come to play a key role in and inspire his future work. He honed his creativity and craftsmanship in France, specialising in restoring old farmhouses in the country’s south before embarking on a lifelong career as an artisan and promoter of craftsmanship.
  “I started training as an artisan in the south of France where I learned to restore old farmhouses. I was taught a number of skills: stone masonry, roof carpentry, slate roofing, door and window joinery and rendering … It was a great experience to work in the old villages, among the local farmers and seeing how the craftsmen of old build houses and furniture”, says Jean-Christophe.
Jean-Christophe later trained in furniture making with a cabinetmaker living in a small village in Lozere. His experience with furniture also extended to years spent training and working in both Switzerland and England. He later moved to Italy, where he studied history of art and worked in a ceramic workshop in Rome.
Jean-Christophe reflects that “It was a great experience to travel and work with so many great craftsmen and in so varied a range of arts … I felt like I was following in the footsteps of the travelling journeymen artisan tradition, where apprentices would travel to work with master artisans across the country to enhance their skills.”
Jean-Christophe is now based in Sydney, where he has worked for nearly 20 years, first as a cabinet maker and wood carver and then as a designer, bringing French style and ambience to private homes and public institutions. His work and extensive knowledge continue to be greatly sought after.
“One of the great things about being in Australia as a craftsman is the feeling of freedom to innovate. That is why so many of the Australian crafts have such a fresh design quality” says Burckhardt.
Jean-Christophe has recently produced a DVD documentary called “Decorating in the French style” featuring interiors and artisans working in the French provincial style in Australia.
More recently he has devoted is time to promoting craftsmanship and artisans worldwide through development of the online portal www.masterartisan.com.
For more information on the spirit of crafstmanship click here
For more information about MA click here
For more information about our team click here
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