FAÏENCERIE DE NIDERVILLER

6 kilometres from Sarrebourg, towards Buhl-Niderviller. The red sandstone building of the Manufacture de Niderviller was erected on the site of an old seigniorial mill, founded in 1735 by Mathias Lesprit, a master potter from Badonviller. In 1748, with the sale of the seigneury to Jean-Louis Beyerlé, director of the Mint in Strasbourg, the business became prosperous. Destroyed by fire around 1754, it was rebuilt and hired the best artists and workers. One of them, François-Antoine Anstett, a painter and chemist, became director of the factory, which then experienced its rich hours. Later on, the factory tried to launch itself into porcelain, but gave up in the face of competition from Limoges, turning to utilitarian earthenware in the 19th century, which is still the company's current activity. The Niderviller clay contains a subtle mixture of mineral elements which give it interesting heat retention qualities. It has enabled artists and craftsmen to express themselves and to produce remarkable pieces. The factory has more than a thousand moulds of vases and statuettes from the 18th century, the most beautiful pieces of which are still being reissued. Created by Cyfflé, Lemire and other artists, the statuettes were exceptionally popular throughout Europe in the 18th century. They represented fashionable themes: gallant and mythological scenes inspired by the works of famous painters or fashionable operas. The most remarkable of these works, such as the Abduction of Helen, in low-fire glazed earthenware (1780), can be found in the Sarrebourg Museum, which has a fine collection of old earthenware and Niderviller porcelain, as well as medieval terracottas. Free visit of the exterior only.

DATAtourisme France