Porcelain, earthenware, ceramics

The company Villeroy & Boch was founded in 1836 as a result of the merger of family businesses under the management of Jean-François Boch and Nicolas Villeroy, who were involved in the production of faience and porcelain. However, the history of the company is usually traced back to 1748 when François Boch, a court steelworker, supplier of cannonballs for the French army, and holder of the honorary title "royal bombardier," founded a ceramics production in the commune of Audun-le-Tiche in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 20th century, Villeroy & Boch became the largest ceramics manufacturer, producing sanitary ware, ceramic tiles, bricks, porcelain and faience, crystal, various church utensils and gravestones, drainage pipes, and insulation for electrical wiring. René von Boch-Gallau led the company for 10 years and made a mark in the company's history by opening a factory in the suburb of Lübeck, Danischburg, and introducing several technical innovations aimed at improving productivity and work safety. In 1902, the company introduced innovative gas-fired tunnel kilns made up of several chambers in which the products were fired and gradually cooled. These kilns were used until the 1980s due to their energy efficiency and reduction of manual labor. In addition, Boch-Gallau introduced new safety requirements at the factories to reduce the likelihood of lead poisoning, which was used in ceramic production. Workers were required to wear protective clothing and eat in separate areas from the production workshops, and pure lead was replaced with less harmful lead oxide. René von Boch-Gallau passed away in 1908, leaving the company to his sons during a period of prosperity. Villeroy & Boch had nine factories (five located in Saarland, one each in Luxembourg, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and Baden-Württemberg) employing over 8,000 people.In 1911, the company lost its main factory in Schramberg, as a state railway was constructed through its territory, which led to the sale of the factory a year later. In the following years, the First World War dealt a serious blow to the family business: after the death of his father, Roger von Boch-Gallau, in 1917, the company's leader, Roger von Boch-Gallau, died on the Eastern Front. Meanwhile, under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Saar was annexed by France, causing the factories located there to lose access to the German market, which was essential for the company. Villeroy & Boch's production capacity in Germany was limited to factories in Dresden and Dänischburg, forcing the company to expand its business in France. After Roger's death, his brother Luwtwin von Boch-Gallau took over the company. By 1920, he managed to partially restore production for the German market by building a factory near Lesnica, near Wroclaw, and acquiring the Franz Anton Mehlem Faience Factory in Bonn. In 1926, the company also acquired a factory in Torgau. By the end of the 1920s, the German factories were merged into a limited liability company, while those in Saar, which was a protectorate, formed a limited partnership. Due to the catastrophic inflation in Germany in the post-war years, the company was forced to focus on the production of simple, everyday goods. In August 1921, the company's headquarters and ceramics production in Mettlach suffered significant damage due to a fire. The families of Villeroy and Boch included talented artists who applied their skills in the design of ceramic products produced by the family factories. For example, Pierre-Joseph Boch was involved in painting, and Nicolas Villeroy was known for his landscape engravings. Eugene von Boch's nephews, Anna and Eugene Bosch, did not participate in the management of the company, but they found success in other artistic pursuits.Prominent representatives of the German "Jugendstil" movement, whose philosophy assumed that even everyday objects should have well-thought-out design, were invited to collaborate with the artists. Henri van de Velde, Peter Behrens, and Richard Riemerschmid participated in creating patterns for ceramic tiles and washbasin sets. Many of the products with patterns created by artists for the company at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century were not produced on a large scale, however, they were later recognized as significant works of the Arts and Crafts Movement. In the first half of the 20th century, the company also collaborated with the Bauhaus School of Architecture and Design. Additionally, Eugene Bosch was a close friend of Vincent van Gogh and received a portrait from the painter as a gift in 1888, which subsequently became part of the collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Eugene and Anna's collection included several works by van Gogh, including the painting "Red Vineyards in Arles," which Anna acquired after the Society of XX exhibition in Brussels in 1890 and was long considered the artist's only painting sold during his lifetime.