Piere Marie Mongis
Plat circulaire aux lambrequins, 1739 ou 1759
Faïence
Lyon, Musées Gadagne

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Plat de la manufacture Desmoutiers (18è).

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Saint Amand is known for its faience, produced, in the past, by ancient faience factories who was used the bianco sopra bianco technical.

• 1705 Nicolas Desmoutier built a faience factory, managed by himself and by the family Dorez, descendants of Bartélémy a ceramist from Lille, in the next place. The faience factory equipment was sold to Bécart in 1775, who has been installed this firm in Valenciennes.
• 1718, the Fauquez family built their faience factory. They were natives of Tournai in Belgium. The roads, waterways and forests were favourable for transporting the products, so they set up their firm in Saint Amand. But the Treaty of Utrecht, which set the frontier between Tournai and Saint Amand forbade the transport of faience across the border. The faience was hidden in kegsand hay to cross the frontier. The Fauquez’s factory was closed in 1794.

Woman nursing an infant, faïence d’Avon, 17th c. Musée de la Renaissance d’Écouen © RMN / Gérard Blot

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There were several stages in the progression from fifteen million inhabitants at the end of the 15th century to eighteen million by 1610, the year of Henri IV’s death. There was strong growth in the first half of the 16th century, no doubt due to the fact that people were better fed and had better resistance to diseases. By 1560, the population had more or less reached the level attained in 1347. Growth then slowed, and even stagnated, in the second half of the century, when the violence and chaos that characterised the Wars of Religion brought with them crises of subsistence and increased vulnerability to illness. The return of peace to the kingdom brought about a renewed upswing.

Plat à ombilic

Attribué à la manufacture de l’Autruche
Nevers, vers 1660 
Faïence, émail stannifère, décor de grand feu
H. 6,7 ; L. 50,2 ; l. 41,3 cm
Achat, 1887 
Inv. 3952 
© Les Arts Décoratifs

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The Nevers manufactory was a French manufacturing center for faience in the city of Nevers. The first factory was started around 1588 by three Italian brothers, who brought the majolica tradition with them.

It is at the Nevers manufactory that Chinese-style blue and white wares were produced for the first time in France, with production running between 1650 and 1680.Chinese styles would then be taken up by factories in Normandy, especially following the foundation of the French East India Company in 1664.