Niderviller pottery

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 1735, Anne-Marie Défontaine, a town noblewoman, decided to put her forests and quarries to a good use by starting a pottery works. She drew on local skills available in Lorraine to gather the proper staff.

In 1763, the company started producing porcelain objects, thanks to the help of workers recruited from Saxony.

Probably because of Sèvres' opposition to this, in 1770, the company was sold by Beyerlé to Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine. Shortly after, it started producing fine earthenware products in the English style.

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 .

The company was sold to a former partner of Villeroy & Boch in 1827.

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…

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Wikipedia