CHAMBORD - FRANCE

Walk into any beautifully restored French country home and you'll likely find one in the kitchen — a deep, glossy, hand-finished farmhouse sink with the kind of weight and presence that tells you this room was designed to be lived in. Odds are it's a Chambord.

For three generations, the Chambord family of artisans has been producing fireclay sinks the way French ceramicists have always produced them: shaped by hand, glazed in small batches, fired at temperatures that bond clay and finish into a single homogeneous body, and inspected piece by piece before they leave the factory. Each model carries a name borrowed from French royalty — Henri, Royan, Normandy, Clotaire, Clovis — because Chambord understands what every great kitchen designer eventually learns: a sink isn't plumbing. It's the heart of the room.

Why Fireclay Matters. Most ceramic sinks on the market are standard sanitary porcelain — two thin layers with an air gap in between. They chip, craze, and discolor. Fireclay is different. Clay and glaze are fused into one solid mass at extreme temperature, producing a sink that is non-porous, antibacterial, and remarkably resistant to heat, acids, scratches, and impact. Drop a cast iron pan into it and it will shrug it off. Leave red wine or hot grease overnight, and a wipe of soap and water returns it to showroom condition.

Because each sink is hand-finished, dimensions vary slightly — sometimes by as much as half an inch. Chambord sees this as evidence that a human being, not a machine, made the piece you're about to install. (We always recommend waiting until the sink arrives at the showroom before cutting your countertop.)

The Range. The Henri collection — chamfered fronts, gently curved corners — is the classic French farmhouse silhouette, available as a single bowl, beveled apron, or generous double bowl. The Henri II Le Grand dresses it up with copper-glazed aprons, Moustier motifs, and traditional Breton designs. The Royan offers a cleaner apron-front in 24″, 30″, and 36″ widths for transitional kitchens. The Normandy undermount, with its accessory ledge, grid, and integrated cutting board, brings Chambord craftsmanship into modern flat-front cabinetry. For larger projects, Clotaire and Clovis introduce Granite of Chambord — a composite in white, black, or titanium grey.

For Designers and Architects, Chambord specifies cleanly. Sold exclusively through Forte Brands showrooms, your client cannot find one cheaper online — and the cabinet cutout dimensions are well-documented for templating.

The full Chambord collection is on display in our Atlanta showroom.