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VILLEROY, BOCH and SARREGUEMINES


1748-    Jean-Francois BOCH began manufacturing ceramic and faience tableware in Audun-le-Tiche. His wares sold well and he was becomming well known.

1767-    He started another company named 'Jean-Francois BOCH et Freres', (and Brothers). This company and factory was located in Septfontains, Luxembourg.

1785-    Jean-Francois' brother, Pierre-Joseph BOCH makes his son, Pierre-Francois, director of the factory.

This same year, another factory emerges owned by Nicolas VILLEROY, making faience only a few miles from Sarreguemines in Vaudrevange, France.

1787-    The French Revolution breaks out.

1790-    Nicolas-Henri JACOBI along with Augustin JACOBI and Joseph FABRY opened a faience and majolica factory in Sarreguemines, France.

1794-    French troops destroy buildings, machines, molds and furnaces in the Septfontains factory. Jean-Francois BOCH's brother, Pierre-Joseph takes out a loan and rebuilds.

1800-    Back in Sarreguemines, due to financial difficulties, both Nicolas and Augustin JACOBI sold their share of the Sarreguemines factory to Francois-Paul Utzschneider.

Paul UTZSCHNEIDER was not only a keen businessman but was also a fine ceramist who formed under Josuah WEDGWOOD in England. He introduced new decorating techniques into the production of the Sarreguemines factory. They had great success and won many medals in national and international expositions.

1809-    Jean-Francois BOCH, director of the Septfontains factory, purchased the Benedictine abbey of Mettlach in Germany. There he started a faience and majolica factory. Production started in 1813.

1815-    The French region of Lorraine was annexed by Germany. Sarreguemines and Vaudrevange are no longer French. The Germans changed the french name of Vaudrevange to the german name Wallerfangen.
Along with the annexation , these factories had to face new customes taxes. They also were loosing market share to the influx of imported English ceramics that became very popular.

1836-    The family VILLEROY and the family BOCH joined to form the faience empire of VILLEROY & BOCH on April 14, 1836. Of this union, VILLEROY had 60% and BOCH had 40%.

In Sarreguemines, Paul UTZSCHNEIDER's son-in-law, the Baron Alexandre de GEIGER takes over management.

VILLEROY & BOCH also reached out to Paul UTZSCHNEIDER  and his son-in-law to form an alliance.
A new company is formed between Paul UTZSCHNEIDER, his son-in-law Baron Alexandre de GEIGER, Nicolas VILLEROY, Jean-Francois BOCH and Auguste Jaunez. 
The new name becomes 'UTZSCHNEIDER et Cie', (and Company).

1841-    Jean-Francois BOCH leaves this association to tend to his factories in Luxembourg and Belgium.

1858-    With the additional capital investment from VILLEROY, BOCH and JAUNEZ, the Sarreguemines factory was able to modernize and expanded into a second factory in 1858. A third factory was added in 1862 and a fourth factory opened in 1869.

1870-    Once again war breaks out, Sarreguemines closes the 3rd and 4th factory.

1871-    Baron Alexandre de GEIGER retires in Paris. His son, Paul de GEIGER takes over management in Sarreguemines.

1877-    In order to avoid taxes and hold onto the French market, Paul de GEIGER constructs a new factory in Digoin, France in 1877. Production begins in 1879. A few years later they open a subsidary in Vitry-le-Francois, France.

1883-    VILLEROY& BOCH purchase the Schramberg majolica factory, built in 1820 by Isidor FAIST. The factory was sold at auction and became a subsidary of the Mettlach facility.
The Schramberg factory was famous under VILLEROY & BOCH for their brightly colored majolica wares.

1912-    The railroad was comming through Schramberg and several buildings on the factory property had to be demolished. This drastically reduced production and VILLEROY & BOCH sold the factory in 1912.

1913-    In Sarreguemines, the director and grandson of Paul UTZSCHNEIDER, Paul de GEIGER dies in 1913. The factories are split between France and Germany.

1914-1918-    WWI.  

1919-    After WWI the Lorraine territory was given back to France and the three factories reunite. Sarreguemines, Digoin and Vitry-le-Francois factories were very prosperous with items inspired by Art Nouveau and Art Deco until WWII. 

1932-    The factory started by Nicolas VILLEROY in Wallerfangen (Vaudrevange) closes.

1940-1945    WWII. Lorraine was once again annexed by Germany. The Germans stopped production at the Sarreguemines factory.

1942-    VILLEROY & BOCH ran this factory from 1942 until the end of the war in 1945 when production stopped.

1948-    After WWII, the VILLEROY & BOCH company was nationalized and the name was changed to VEB Earthenwareworks Dresden. They produced household porcelain until 1965.

1972-    The Sarreguemines factory merges with a group in Luneville.

1982-    This factory was renamed 'Sarreguemines-Batiment'.

We are very fortunate to have examples of faience from VILLEROY, BOCH AND SARREGUEMINES in our store, Please go to the top of the page to enter our store and type any of those words into the store search box to see them!


LONGWY FAIENCE FACTORY
 
1798-    A faience factory was started in 1798 in an old convent owned and operated by Charles REGNIER until 1815.

1815-    Charles REGNIER sells the factory to the couple Jean-Antoine de NOTHOMB and Christine BOCH. Christine was the daughter of Pierre-Joseph BOCH who 16 years later along with his brother merge with the VILLEROY family to become the famous VILLEROY & BOCH empire.

1835-    Jean-Antoine and Christine turn the factory over to their daughter and son-in-law, the Baron Henri-Joseph d'HUART in 1835.

1855-    In 1855, Baron Henri-Joseph d'HUART turns the factory over to his two sons, Hippolite and Henri-Ferdinand d'HUART. They were formed in ceramic arts at the Ecole Centrale de Paris. They brought with them new dynamic ideas.They decided to make faience with the look of "cloisonner". Cloison means wall, so they made patterns with little walls and filled them in with color. 

1878-    The LONGWY faience factory was put on the map for this type of pottery at the Exposition Universal de Paris.

1919-    Art nouveau was all the rage and LONGWY started to make different series of ashtrays that the big department stores would offer to their best customers and sales soared.

WWII-    The factory was closed for one year during the war.

1950's-    The factory of LONGWY picked back up after the war but in the 1950's they stopped making table services and lacking in artistic creativity led to their decline.

1991-    This changed in 1991 when Michelle KOSTKA joined them and changed the decors, colors and forms to be more contemporary. This was well appreciated and many LONGWY pieces found their way into the high end boutiques and shops around the world.

Happily, they are still in existance today.

We are very fortunate to have examples of faience from LONGWY in our store, Please go to the top of the page to enter our store and type LONGWY into the store search box to see them!



RUBELLES FAIENCE FACTORY


1838-    The faience factory of RUBELLES was started in 1838 by Alexis du TREMBLAY.

After deposing a pattent in 1827, he and Charles de BOURGOING perfected the art of lithopanes.  

1842-    In 1842 they started the production of "EMAUX OMBRANTS" that they became renouned for.  Many examples are found in museums and items made by this factory are very sought after by serious collectors.

The Melun Museum in France has over 300 examples of this high quality faience. 

1857-    The RUBELLES Faience Factory closed. It was only open 19 years.


CLAIREFONTAINE FAIENCE FACTORY

1804-     The faience factory of CLAIREFONTAINE was established by Jean-Francois ESTIENNE in an old monastary.

1806-    Jean-Francois ESTIENNE participated and  showed his faience at the Exposition of French Products of Industry in Paris.

1833-    Jean-Francois ESTIENNE dies and the factory is taken over by the husband of his second cousin, Jean-Baptiste RIGAL.

1855-    Jean-Baptiste RIGAL participates at the Universal Exposition in Paris.

1856-    The faience factory of RUBELLES closes. Jean-Baptiste RIGAL buys the molds and becomes owner of the patent for "EMAUX OMBRANTS". The first majolica is now made in the CLAIREFONTAINE factory.

1858-    The new train line opens between Paris and Basle, Switzerland. The market for the products of the CLAIREFONTAINE faience factory broadens.

1860-Jean-Baptiste RIGAL dies and leaves the factory to his four children. The son, Emile RIGAL, along with his brother-in-law, Jules SANEJOUAND run the factory together for 25 years. The makersmark is an anchor with RS for RIGAL/SANEJOUAND.

1875-    Emile RIGAL's daughter maries Victor AMELINE, a decorator in the SEVRES factory. He comes to work in the CLAIREFONTAINE factory and creates a renovation with the japonese influence that became widespread after the Univeral Exposition of 1867.

1878-    The CLAIREFONTAINE factory once again participates in the Universal Exposition in Paris and takes two bronze medals.

1880-1885-    The factory has financial problems to the point where they might have to close the doors. There is a lot of strife in the family and Emile RIGAL along with his son-in-law leave for Salins.

1885-    Jules SANEJOUAND now runs the factory alone. He brings aboard his son-in-law, Leon GRAVES who was a CPA.
The new makersmark is now SG (SANEJOUAND/GRAVES).

1889-    They participate in the Universal Exposition in Paris and win a silver medal.

1890-    Jules daughter dies and he turns the factory over to his son-in-law, Leon GRAVES.

1894-    Leon GRAVES maries his late wife's cousin, Mathilde LENOBLE. They have five children. The new makersmark becomes LG (LEON GRAVES).

1913-    Leon GRAVES dies in an accident. His wife, Mathilde GRAVES now runs the factory with her son. The new makersmark is now "veuve Graves" or widow Graves.

1914-    World War I brings many difficulties for the factory including supplies, men and orders dropping off.

1917-    Mathilde GRAVES maries a russian officer, Eugene POPOFF. Between 1917-1925, POPOFF manages to push away the top management, including Mathilde's son, and the couple are alone to run the factory.

1932-    Mathilde GRAVES-POPOFF sells the factory rather than go broke. The factory is now closed.

We are very fortunate to have examples of faience from CLAIREFONTAINE in our store, Please go to the top of the page to enter our store and type CLAIREFONTAINE into the store search box to see them!


SALINS-LES-BAINS MAJOLICA FACTORY

1792-    The old Capucins convent is sold to become a hotel-resturant until 1857.

1857-    The converted convent and the surounding land  was sold to two faience makers, Mr. MONNIOTTE and Mr. GRANGER.

1859-    The two men build a modern factory, dam and canal to run their clay mixers and ovens. The regional town commission demanded that they lower the height of the water they kept in the dam by the end of 1862. Unfortunatly, their mixers could not work with the water so low.

1862-    With their Grand Opening schedualed for December 1862 and with their equipment not working due to the water problem, they sold the factory to the sons-in-law of the original resturanteur who named the company "BOURGEOIS, PAGE et Cie".

1885-    Mr. BOURGEOIS and August PAGE are joined by Emile RIGAL and his son-in-law, Victor AMELINE from the CLAIREFONTAINE majolica factory. Emile RIGAL brought with him the manufacturing secrets of how to make "EMAUX OMBRANT" that his father bought from the RUBELLES majolica factory in 1856.

1889-    With the help of Emile RIGAL, SALINS-LES-BAINS won a silver medal at the International Universal Exposition in Paris for their new clay compositions.

1889-    August PAGE sells his shares to Emile RIGAL and dies later that year. Emile, along with his son-in-law, was joined by his son Maurice RIGAL. They continue to make majolica and EMAUX OMBRANT. (To see some examples of emaux ombrant, go to our online store and enter the word OMBRANT into the store search box.)

1910-    Maurice RIGAL dies.

1911-    Edouard CHARBONNIER, who was the brother of Robert CHARBONNIER,owner of the LONGCHAMPS majolica factory, joins with Emile RIGAL and Victor AMELINE.

1912-    Edouard CHARBONNIER buys the Salins-les-Bains factory.

1914-    Edouard CHARBONNIER was drafted into WWI. His wife takes over the factory until his return in 1918.

1925-    The SALINS factory wins a gold medal at the International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris.

The factory continues to run even through WWII.

1954-    Edouard CHARBONNIER dies and his son Pierre takes over.

1983-    Pierre CHARBONNIER retires.

1990's-    Sadly, the faience and majolica factory of SALINS-les-BAINS closes for good and is transformed into a garage.

We are very fortunate to have examples of faience from SALINS-les-BAINS in our store, Please go to the top of the page to enter our store and type SALINS into the store search box to see them!



PEXONNE FAIENCE FACTORY

The PEXONNE faience factory is one of the oldest in this area.

1715-    The factory was opened and running without proper authorizations.

1720-    Duke Leopold gave letters of authorizations to Alexandre FRANCOIS, who associated with Charles Antoine CORNET from Paris, to open a faience factory in an old monastary.

Not much is said about the next 100 years except that the factory was rented out several times.

Jacques CHAMBRETTE and his family rented the PEXONNE faience factory on December 7, 1725 and ran it for several years until 1728 then left to become owners of a faience factory in LUNEVILLE.

1828-    Nicolas FENAL buys 50% of the PEXONNE faience factory.

1836-   Nicolas FENAL now owns 100% of the PEXONNE factory. He recruted qualified workers from LUNEVILLE, NIDERVILLE  and SAINT CLEMENT.

1857-    Nicolas FENAL dies leaving the factory to his six children. They turn the factory into a "Societe" and call it FENAL FRERES (Fenal Brothers) with the makers mark FF.

One of his sons was Theophile FENAL who was a lawyer in LUNEVILLE before he came to Pexonne to help run the factory.

1880-    Ten years after the FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR of 1870 where France lost Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, a group of specialists in making faience and majolica from SARREGUEMINES came to PEXONNE as refugees seeking assilum. They were hired right away at the factory and the FENAL brothers profited from their experience.

1881-    The new train line from BACCARAT to BADONVILLER starts up and aids expansion.

1897-    Due to inter-family discord, Theophile FENAL withdraws his share of the PEXONNE factory and opens a new competing faience factory less than 5 kilometers down the road. He also takes part of the faience factory's skilled labor force with him!!

We are very fortunate to have examples of faience from PEXONNE in our store, Please go to the top of the page to enter our store and type FENAL into the store search box to see them!


CHOISY-le-ROI FAIENCE FACTORY

1740'S-    Between 1740 and 1770, King Louis XV of France gave permission to open a faince factory in the village of CHOISY-LE-ROI. This did not happen until after the French Revolution.

1805-    Three brothers, Melchior, Nicolas and Valentin PAILLART set up the first faience factory in CHOISY-LE-ROI.

They hired Jacques BAGNALL who was a specialist in English faience and bone china.

1824-    Melchior and Nicolas left the factory which became the property of Valentin PAILLART and Hippolyte HAUTIN.

1836-    Valentin PAILLART dies. Hippolyte HAUTIN brings his son-in-law, Louis BOULENGER, on board.

1863-    Hippolyte BOULENGER takes over for Louis BOULENGER, his uncle, and becomes the sole owner.

1867-    The decision is made to not imitate the faience of the past but to take inspiration from Art Nouveau. The faience factory of CHOISY-LE-ROI now produced faience and majolica of exceptional quality which they became well known for.

1870-    The Franco-Prussian War destroys a large part of the factory buildings. On the other hand, the war also wiped out a lot of the competition in the east of France. SARREGUEMINES, the major competitor, was annexed by Germany and was no longer able to sell in France.

1873-1878-    Hippolyte BOULENGER rebuilds.

1878-    Needing more money, Hippolyte takes his company public and sells shares. He also diversifies his products by adding decorative wall and floor tiles between 1878-1889 which expands his market greatly.

1890's-    By the 1890's the factory is once again a family owned enterprise.

1892-    Hippolyte BOULENGER dies and his son Paul takes over.

1910-    By 1910 the production of majolica tablewares cease. The company focuses on making tiles until 1936.

1936-    The company closes.

We are very fortunate to have examples of faience and majolica from CHOISY-LE-ROI in our store, Please go to the top of the page to enter our store and type CHOISY into the store search box to see them!