Niderviller pottery

Entrance of the manufactory c. 1900.

Niderviller (German Niederweiler) faience is one of the most famous French pottery manufacturers. It has been located in Niderviller, Lorraine, France since 1735. It also produced porcelain statues in the Meissen style starting in the mid-18th century.

In 1754, Baron Jean Louis de Beyerlé founded one of the finest eighteenth century porcelain factories at Niderviller, which grew out of the faïence (tin-glazed earthenware) works established in 1735 by Mathias le Sprit. Because of its unique location in the duchy of Lorraine, where it was exempt from French laws designed to protect the royal monopoly of the Sevres porcelain manufactory, Niderviller flourished for nearly twenty years, unlike other French porcelain manufacturers of the period.

Baron de Beyerlé authored two known books in 1760 and 1765, both dealing with ceramic technique, secrets of the trade of ceramics, firing of ceramics, openwork, and pilot wheels imitating baskets. Instrumental in the discovery and development of porcelain as we know it today, his books are still considered hallmarks of that period.

The full resume of Baron de Beyerlé included Lord of Niderviller, Schneckenbusch, Wuischviller and other places, adviser to the king, Director of the Court of Currencies, master treasurer of the mint of Strasbourg, Ecuyer (member of Nobility of the Second Order), Lawyer, author and Free Mason. As Director of the Royal Mint in Strasbourg, the Baron produced coins for King Louis XIV, the Sun King and King Louis XV of France, and for use in the colonies in America.

To produce Niderviller’s quality pottery, a fine white china-clay known as kaolin was brought from Germany until Baron de Beyerlé bought some of the first kaolin mines, in France, at Saint-Yrieix. The paste produced from the Saint-Yrieix kaolin was white, highly translucent and produced pottery with a distinct color and weight. The artistic directorship was that of his wife, Dame Marguerite Chalons-Drolenvaux. The glaze of the Niderviller factory is considered to have been of the best quality and brilliance, closely resembling the contemporary glaze used at Sevres.

Documentary evidence from Niderviller indicates that in 1759 a large staff was employed at the pottery, in addition, the names of all the employees are given, with the wages each man received. Eleven painters and two sculptors were engaged, which shows that the factory founded by Jean Louis de Beyerlé, towards 1754, had made great progress. The employees were paid in ‘Sols’, a coin minted at the Strasbourg mint. The names and wages of these employees, as listed in LES MERVEILLES DE LACÉRAMIQUE, and were:

• François Anstette, controller of manufacture and probably a member of the same family who worked at the pottery in Haguenau, earned approximately thirty sols per day.
• Jean-Baptiste Mainat, director of the same manufacture, has five taxable quota books per annum pledged.
• Michel Martin, painter, earned approximately twenty sols per day
• Pierre Anstette'Bold text', painter, earned approximately twenty-four sols per day
• Joseph Secger, painter, approximately twenty sols per day
• Fréderic Adolph Tiebauld, boy painter, approximately twenty-four sols per day.
• Martin Schettier, boy painter, approximately fifteen sols per day
• Augustin Ilerman, boy painter, earned approximately twenty sols per day
• Daniel Koope, boy painter, approximately twelve sols per day
• Michel Anstette, boy painter, approximately twenty-four sols per day
• Jean-Pierre Racket, boy painter, gain approximately eighteen sols per day
• Nicolas Lutze, boy painter, approximately twenty sols per day
• Deroy, boy moulor, approximately twenty sols per day
• Charle Reflects, boy sculptor, approximately twenty-four sols per day
• Jean Thalbotier, boy painter, approximately twenty sols per day
• Philip Arnold, boy sculptor, approximately twenty sols per day

When the Duke of Lorraine, **Francis I, died in 1765, the north-eastern territory reverted to the French crown, and the manufactory was then subject to new, even tighter restrictions on production and decoration. On December 6, 1770, at the age of 75, Baron Jean-Louis sold the ceramics manufacture of Niderviller to another aristocrat, the ***Count Adam-Philippe de Custine, who with his wife, was guillotined in 1793.

Footnotes:

• Alsace-Lorraine: Niderviller is located in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. Lorraine was originally an independent kingdom. It was created in 843, when the Carolingian empire was divided between the three sons of Louis the Pious. Named after the new ruler, Holy Roman Emperor Lothar, the area and other territories controlled by Lothar became known as Lotharingia. In France, this became known as Lorraine, while in Germany, it was eventually known as Lothringen. Lorraine is a frenchified version of the German title Lotharingen. In the Alemannic, the language once spoken in Lorraine, the -ingen suffix signified a property; thus, in a figurative sense, "Lotharingen" can be translated as "Land belonging to Lothar". With the loss of the imperial title and the waning of Carolingian influence, the kingdom lost territories and came under the rule of a duke, thereby reducing the former kingdom to a duchy. Between 1733 and 1766 it was ruled by Stanislaus I of Poland. Lorraine became part of France in 1766 and was reorganized by the French government. Lorraine, along with Alsace, has long been contested territory between France and Germany. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the area was predominantly populated by Germans, who opposed efforts to have the French language and customs imposed upon them, a process which Stanislaus I effectively ended during his reign but which continued afterwards. ** Duke of Lorraine. December 8, 1708 - August 18, 1765, Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was also known as Francis III Stephen, Duke of Lorraine. Maria Theresa and Francis I had sixteen children-their youngest daughter was the future queen consort of France, Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) *** Count Adam-Philippe de Custine. General, began his military career in the Seven Years' War. He next served with distinction against the English in the American War of Independence. In 1789 he was elected to the states-general by the bailliage (translates as chapter) of Metz. In October 1791 he again joined the army, with the rank of lieutenant-general and became popular with the soldiers, amongst whom he was known as "general moustache." General-in-chief of the army of the Vosges, he took Spires, Worms, Mainz and Frankfort in September and October 1792. He carried on the revolutionary propaganda by proclamations, and levied heavy taxes on the nobility and clergy. During the winter a Prussian army forced him to evacuate Frankfort, re-cross the Rhine and fall back upon Landau. He was accused of treason, defended by Robespierre, and sent back to the army of the north. But he dared not take the offensive, and did nothing to save Conde, which the Austrians were besieging. Sent to Paris to justify himself, he was found guilty by the Revolutionary Tribunal of having intrigued with the enemies of the republic, and guillotined on the 28th of August 1793

Tableware

• 
  Terrine dish, traditional Niderviller monochrome in pink, c. 1760
• 
  18th century statuette for salt & pepper, Niderviller,
• 
  "The broken clog", Niderviller, 18th century
• 
  Covered tureen, Niderviller exhibited in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery 18th century
• 
  18th century statuary group, Niderviller exhibited in the Sarrebourg Museum
• 
  covered milk jug Niderviller ca 1775. Gardiner Museum in Toronto.
• 
  porcelain basket, Niderviller, ca 1785. Hallwyl Museum in Stockholm.

Developments since 1827

Custine sold company to a former partner of Villeroy & Boch in 1827.^[1]

Museums exhibiting Niderviller ceramics

Many museums across the world display Niderviller products, including: the Louvre, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, the Sèvres – Cité de la céramique, the Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Strasbourg, but also the Smithsonian Institution, Mount Vernon, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC in Vancouver, the Hallwyl Museum in Stockholm and museums in Hamburg, Berlin, Basel, Zürich^[2]…

List of some other designers and other artists involved with Niderviller

• Paul-Louis Cyfflé
• Charles-Gabriel Sauvage,^[3] aka. Lemire
• Jean Boggio

See also

• Porcelain manufacturing companies in Europe

References

External links

• Niderviller faience and associated Lorraine royal manufactories
• history of the Niderviller manufactory