Our Story
Two French brothers. A lost art. A generation of deaf artisans. This is the story of how lacquer found new life in the heart of Cambodia.
Five Decades of Mastery
1974 — An Apprentice Meets His Destiny
At sixteen, Eric Stocker enters the workshop of Pierre Bobot — master lacquerer, restorer to the French National Museums, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. Under Bobot's exacting eye, Eric learns the ancestral techniques of lacquer, gilding, polychrome, and marquetry. That same year, he visits Eileen Gray at her apartment on rue Bonaparte to collect her legendary 1922 lacquer screen for restoration. He doesn't yet know these encounters will shape his entire life.
1980s–1990s — The Louvre Years
For two decades, Eric works as an artisan restorer for the Louvre and other French national institutions — gilding, lacquering, and polychroming museum-grade furniture and decorative objects. He earns the title of Compagnon du Devoir, joining one of France's most prestigious artisan guilds, a tradition stretching back to the cathedral builders of the Middle Ages.
1998 — The Call to Cambodia
Invited by the European Union to join an arts revival program, Eric arrives in Cambodia and encounters an ancient Khmer lacquerwork tradition — over 1,000 years old. The Khmer Rouge had destroyed nearly all artistic heritage. No living artisans knew the traditional techniques. The art was on the brink of extinction.
Eric makes a choice that will define his next quarter-century: he stays.
1998–2008 — Rebuilding From Silence
In partnership with Krousar Thmey, Cambodia's leading NGO for deaf and blind children, Eric begins training young deaf Cambodians in the art of lacquer. He teaches them to harvest natural lacquer sustainably from Cambodian forests. Over the next decade, more than 350 deaf youths pass through his workshop — learning not just a trade, but a tradition. An entire craft is rebuilt from scratch, one pair of hands at a time.
2008 — A Workshop of Their Own
Joined by his brother Thierry, Eric opens Stocker Studio in Siem Reap. Together they push the boundaries of lacquer, developing textures never before combined: vegetal, mineral, animal. Rye straw marquetry meets eggshell mosaic. Stingray skin meets gold leaf. Beetle wings meet copper patina. The workshop becomes a laboratory where French savoir-faire and Khmer tradition create something entirely new.
2019 — The World Takes Notice
Eric receives the Trophee des Francais de l'Etranger in Culture & Art de Vivre, awarded at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris. The prize recognizes French citizens abroad who make extraordinary contributions to culture — a testament to a life spent preserving and reinventing an ancient art.
Today
Over 70% of the workshop's artisans are deaf — not as beneficiaries of charity, but as highly skilled professionals creating some of the finest lacquerwork in Southeast Asia. Stocker Studio remains the only workshop in Cambodia using real natural vegetal lacquer. Its pieces are found in Sofitel, Park Hyatt, Raffles, and private collections across the world.
Eric Stocker
"A piece of lacquerwork should be more than an object. It should carry the soul of the craft and the hands that made it."
Forty-seven years of mastery. Trained in France under Pierre Bobot. Decades restoring masterworks at the Louvre. A Compagnon du Devoir. The rare artisan who bridges French restoration tradition with a thousand years of Khmer lacquer heritage. Eric personally oversees every piece that leaves the workshop — from first coat to final polish.
L'Atelier
"Their silence becomes art."
Each piece passes through the hands of artisans trained over a decade in techniques nearly lost to history. Over 70% are deaf, communicating through gesture and craft. In the quiet of the workshop, concentration is absolute. The lacquer demands it.
A Mission That Matters
Since 1998, this workshop has been more than a business. It is proof that beauty can be a force for dignity.
Every piece you acquire directly supports the livelihood of deaf artisans and their families — craftspeople who trained for years to reach this level of skill. When you hold a Stocker Studio piece, you hold the work of hands that found their voice through lacquer.
- 350+ artisans trained since 1998
- 70%+ of current artisans are deaf
- 26 years of continuous partnership with Krousar Thmey
Recognition
Awards
- Trophee Culture / Art de Vivre 2019 — Quai d'Orsay, Paris
- Winner, Trophees des Francais d'Asie
Commissions
Cartier · Hermes · Louis Vuitton
Exhibitions
- Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra — "The Lotus Collection"
- French Residence, Singapore — "De l'Ombre a la Lumiere" (2015–2016)
Press
- Le Petit Journal — L'art des maitres laqueurs
- Phnom Penh Post — Reviving the ancient art of lacquer
- Khmer Times — Siem Reap's last bastion of traditional lacquerware
- AsiaLife — The ancient art of lacquer work
- Alexander Lamont — Eric Stocker, Lacquer Master
Visit Us
The workshop is open to visitors. Come see the artisans at work, watch lacquer come alive under their hands, and discover pieces you will not find anywhere else on earth.