Faïencerie de Gien
| Faïencerie de Gien | |
|---|---|
| legal form | |
| founding | 1821 |
| Seat | Gien , France |
| management | Yves de Talhouët |
| Branch | Faience and porcelain production |
| Website | gien.com |
The Faïencerie de Gien based in Gien in the Loiret in the region Center-Val de Loire is a 1821 founded factory which Fayencewaren , especially coffee and dinner services produces for everyday and more sophisticated demand. Faïencerie de Gien is one of the most important manufacturers of faience dishes in Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century, the factory was commissioned to produce the wall tiles for the stations of the Paris metro . The company is now part of France's economic heritage and has been awarded the Entreprise du patrimoine vivant label .
history
In 1821 the Englishman Thomas Hulm acquired the buildings and lands of the former monastery in Gien in order to build a faience factory based on the English model. In order to provide the financial means for this investment, he sold his shares in the faience factory in Montereau, which had been family-owned since 1744 . In the first years the company got into financial difficulties and had to change hands several times. In 1842 the manufacturer, now trading under the name Guyon, Boulen & Cie , was able to take over its local competitor, Faïencerie de Briare . In the middle of the 19th century, the manufactory found itself in another economic hardship , caused by the damage caused by several major floods in the Loire . The owner of the enamel factory in Briare, Jean-Félix Bapterosses, took over the ailing manufacture. In 1875, under the leadership of Jean-Félix Bapterosses, the company was converted into a public limited company and renamed Faïencerie de Gien .
The manufactory initially produced simple tableware for everyday use, but increasingly concentrated on the development and manufacture of high-quality table and coffee tableware, decorative objects as well as oil and petroleum lamps . The craftsmen perfected the technique of cloisonné enamel with which they artistically decorated the earthenware workpieces. The Faïencerie de Gien had its economic boom in the second half of the 19th century until the beginning of the First World War . This is also reflected in numerous awards at national and international trade fairs and exhibitions. In the 19th century, up to 1,500 employees worked in the factory, which included the factory buildings and a self-contained settlement with residential buildings, a pharmacy and a school.
In 1882 the manufacture of ceramic tiles began in Gien . In 1906, the manufactory received the order from the Paris Metro to produce the small, beveled tiles in the 7.5 cm × 15 cm format for the new metro stations to be built.
At the end of the 1970s, the manufactory's economic situation deteriorated again. The competition from East Asia and Portugal as well as a changed buyer behavior led to a decline in the production of high-priced, hand-made tableware and decorative objects. The production of tiles ceased in 1980. In December 1983 the company had to file for bankruptcy.
In 1984 the Jeufroy couple started a new economic start with 108 employees. The production range was streamlined and unprofitable shapes and decors were withdrawn from the market. The focus was increasingly on hand-made tableware for high demands. For the design of the new products and decors, we increasingly worked with national and international artists.
In 2002 Gien was sold to Louis Grandchamp des Raux, who managed the company until May 2014. Gien Finance, the company's owning holding company, was placed under insolvency administration in February 2014 by Pascal d'Halluin, who had previously saved the clothing company Lacoste from bankruptcy.
After another restructuring, downsizing and realignment, the manufactory opened up new markets. In particular, the workforce had to be reduced again. The workforce was gradually reduced from 1200 to 140 employees.
In 2017, the company launched the new G by Gien product line , which is based on reinterpretations of some 19th century designs, but is sold exclusively by the French retail company Monoprix at moderate prices . In addition, some administrations of internationally known sights in France could be won over to have high-quality souvenir plates made by Gien and no longer by Asian producers.
Products (selection)
Faïencerie de Gien permanently offers around 3000 items, preferably various coffee and dining services with different decors and colors. (As of 2017). The company archive has 4000 molds and 5000 copper plates with engraved drawings. The shapes and decors show influences from the leading European stoneware and porcelain manufacturers, such as the Meissen porcelain factory , the Italian majolica manufacturers from Faenza , Urbino and Savona , the faience from Rouen and Marseille as well as Wedgwood and Delft .
The table services are among the company's best-known designs:
- Les Filets : Filet bleu , Filet taupe , Filet rouge , Filet rosé , Filet indigo , Filet vert , Filet noel;
- Millefleurs;
- Oiseau bleu;
- Rocaille;
- Alice;
- Pont au choux;
- Passiflore;
- Volupté;
- Oiseaux de Paradis, Oiseaux bleu;
- Pivoines bleues;
- Versailles, Monuments de Paris, Châteaux de la Loire;
- Rouen 37;
- Rambouillet;
- Toscana;
- Tulipes noires, Tulipes roses, Chevrefeuille, Fleurs de Chine, Hortensia, Mures.
The manufactory's products are sold in specialist shops and in international luxury department stores such as Kaufhaus des Westens , Bergdorf Goodman or Isetan in Tokyo. Around a third of sales in 2016 were achieved through the export of goods.
The manufactory has also been making decorative objects, jugs and vases since the 19th century. A specialty of Faïencerie de Gien that has been preserved to this day is the personalization of tableware with monograms and coats of arms .
Museum of the Faïencerie
The private Musée de la faïencerie is housed in the cellar vault of the former monastery on the factory premises . In the museum, products of the manufacture from almost 200 years of existence are shown. In addition to a reconstructed dining room from the 19th century, the rooms of the museum also show the designs that have won awards at world exhibitions.
Trivia
After the Franco-Prussian War , the numerous Prussian ministers traveled to Gien in 1871 to be portrayed . They then had the portraits transferred to faience plates.
See also
- Faience
- https://www.tourismeloiret.com/fr/diffusio/visites/musee-de-la-faiencerie-gien_TFOPCUCEN0450100092
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b LE PARISIEN MAGAZINE. Visite privée de la Faïencerie Gien . In: leparisien.fr . ( leparisien.fr [accessed December 4, 2017]).
- ↑ francetvinfo.fr: La Faïencerie de Gien résiste à la mondialisation par le haut de gamme . March 28, 2017 ( francetvinfo.fr [accessed December 4, 2017]).
- ↑ Pour moderniser son image, la Faiencerie de Gien s'invite chez Monoprix . In: France Bleu . October 12, 2017 ( francebleu.fr [accessed December 4, 2017]).
- ↑ La renaissance de la faïence de Gien . In: RTL.fr . ( rtl.fr [accessed December 4, 2017]).
- ↑ Musée de la Faïencerie, GIEN . In: Tourisme Loiret . ( tourismeloiret.com [accessed December 4, 2017]).
- ↑ Center France: savoir-faire - Un nouveau livre pour tout savoir sur la faïence de Gien, de A à Z . In: www.larep.fr . ( larep.fr [accessed December 4, 2017]).
literature
- Roger Bernard, Jean-Claude Renard: La faïence de Gien , Sous le vent, 1981, ISBN 9782858890286 , 162 pp.
- Jean-Pierre Roth: Le Giennois industriel 1821 a 2001 , Gien 2002, ISBN 2-9517946-0-6 , pp. 35-148
- Jean-Claude Renard: La faïence de Gien , Gien 2017, 200 pp.