Villeroy & Boch (, ) is a German manufacturer of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

s, with the company headquarters located in

Mettlach Mettlach (Saarlandic dialect:Mettlich) is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany, situated on the river Saar, approximately northwest of Merzig, and south of Trier. The headquarters of Villeroy & Boch are in Mettlach. ...

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

History

The company began in the tiny

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

village of

Audun le Tiche Audun-le-Tiche (; ; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Location and rail links Audun-le-Tiche is located adjacent to Esch-sur-Alzette, on the border with Luxembourg, and close to the borders of German ...

, where the iron master François Boch set up a pottery company with his three sons in 1748. In 1766 Boch was licensed to build a ceramics kilnworks nearby at

Septfontaines Septfontaines ( lb, Simmer, german: Simmern) is a small town in western Luxembourg. It is part of the commune of Habscht, in the canton of Capellen, which is part of the district of Luxembourg. Septfontaines Castle is one of the castles belong ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, where it operated a porcelain factory. In 1785 Nicolas Villeroy became sole owner of the

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...

manufactory at

Wallerfangen Wallerfangen is a municipality of Saarlouis district, Saarland, Germany. Located west of Saarlouis and along the French border, it is the seat of the villages of Ittersdorf, Ihn, Leidingen, St. Barbara, Kerlingen, Gisingen, Rammelfangen, Oberli ...

. In 1812 Jean-François Boch began construction of kilns at the nearby town of

. In 1824 Boch commenced

transfer printing Transfer printing is a method of decorating pottery or other materials using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print on paper is taken which is then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece. Fleming, John & Hugh H ...

on porcelain from engraved copper plates. On 14 April 1836, the Jean François Boch company merged with that of the competitor, Nicolas Villeroy, and became Villeroy & Boch, (V&B, also simply 'VB'). In 1869, Villeroy & Boch opened the first manufactory specializing in architectural tiles. The company is today operating in two divisions:

Tableware Tableware is any dish or dishware used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. It includes cutlery, List of glassware, glassware, serving dishes, and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variet ...

, and Bathroom and Wellness. The Tiles division became a separate company (V&B Fliesen GmbH) in 2006. In 2007 the Villeroy & Boch AG sold 51% of the V&B Fliesen GmbH to the (

Eczacıbaşı Holding Eczacıbaşı Holding is a Turkish industrial group of companies founded in 1942. The group with 44 companies has 11,400 employees and a combined net turnover of TL 11.1 billion in 2020. Group Eczacıbaşı's core sectors are building products, ...

). Today there is only a 2.29% holding in the share capital of V&B Fliesen GmbH. Among its innovations in Mettlach at the end of the nineteenth century was ''

Phanolith Phanolith is a kind of porcelain that combines the characteristics and benefits of jasperware and ''pâte-sur-pâte''. It was developed at Villeroy & Boch in Mettlach, Saarland, Germany, at the end of the nineteenth century. As the creator of the Ph ...

'', a kind of semi-transparent porcelain that combines the characteristics and benefits of

jasperware Jasperware, or jasper ware, is a type of pottery first developed by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1770s. Usually described as stoneware, it has an unglazed matte "biscuit" finish and is produced in a number of different colours, of which the most com ...

and

pâte-sur-pâte ''Pâte-sur-pâte'' is a French term meaning "paste on paste". It is a method of porcelain decoration in which a relief design is created on an unfired, unglazed body, usually with a coloured body, by applying successive layers of (usually) white p ...

. The creator of the Phanolith was the ceramics artist Jean-Baptiste Stahl, who headed the modelling section of Villeroy & Boch. Phanolith gained first wide public attention at the Paris

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

. Villeroy & Boch has continued to base its broadest market in Germany.

Technology

TitanCeram is a special compound of clay, quartz,

feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...

and titanium dioxide which, in combination with special production steps, makes it possible to create exceptionally precise shapes without sacrificing durabilit

DirectFlush is a rimless design of toilet, specifically created to make it easier to clean

Quaryl® is a composite material which provides the properties of a natural

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

and combined using an acrylic resin

CeramicPlus® is a special glaze developed by Villeroy & Boch to improve the durability and hygiene of their ceramic products by making it scratch-resistant and easier to clean since droplets will have a harder time sticking into the surfac

Current situation

The company's Luxembourg factory was closed down in 2010. While the company is no longer run by a family member, under the present Group Chairman Frank Goering, there are various family members currently working in the company. Since 1990 the company has been listed on the German

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...

, ticker symbol VIB3, but the voting capital is still in the hands of the family descendants. The Villeroy & Boch Group increased its consolidated revenue by 2% to €853.1 million in the 2018 financial year. The Bathroom and Wellness Division increased its revenue by 4.7% to €584.3 million. The Tableware Division generated a revenue volume of €266.2 million, down 4.4% on the previous year.Financial year 2018: Villeroy & Boch increases earnings by 7.6%.
In: ''villeroyboch-group.com''.

Gallery

File:VundBVaseAltLuxemburg.jpg, Vase with the decor " Old Luxemburg" File:VundBGedenkteller1892EugenOktavieVonBoch.jpg, Plate to commemorate the Golden Wedding of Eugen von Boch and his wife Oktavie in 1892 File:VundBTeetasseWallerfangen.jpg, Tea cup, made in Wallerfangen File:VundBKrugGeritztesSteinzeug(Schlitt-Zwerg).jpg, Jar of incised

stoneware Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refracto ...

Heinrich Schlitt Heinrich Schlitt (August 21, 1849 – November 13, 1923) was a German painter and illustrator, known for his fantasy motifs that feature gnomes, dwarves, and faeries. He was one of the in-house artists at the Villeroy & Boch ceramic company in Met ...

File:VundBVasePhanolith.jpg, Vase of Phanolith-stoneware, design and realization Jean-Baptiste Stahl (1869-1932) File:VundBJardinierePhanolith.jpg,

''Jardinière'': design and realization Jean-Baptiste Stahl (1869-1932) File:VundBWandtellerPhanolith.jpg, Phanolith wall plate: design and realization Jean-Baptiste Stahl (1869-1932) File:VundBGewuerzdoesenGeritztesSteinzeug.jpg, Boxes for spices from incised stoneware File:V und B Loewe res.jpg, Lion figure made in 1910 by a worker for his son (traditionally, workers made such items for their children) File:V und B Drina res.jpg, Soap dish, washbowl, and washstand pitcher design "Drina" (beginning of 20th century) File:V und B Adria res.jpg, Vase design "Adria", c. 1934 File:V und B Goslar res.jpg, Cake plate design "Goslar", mid 1930s File:V und B Doris res.jpg, Milk jug design "Doris", c. 1930 File:V und B Stempel res.jpg, Company logo on the bottom of a vase, c. 1934 File:VundBKristallglasBlau.jpg, Crystal glass, made in Wadgassen File:Berlinwohnung 03.01.2014 13-21-51.JPG, Cup, made in the 2000s

Footnotes

External links

Company homepage Villeroy-Boch.comChateau de Septfontaines ... origin of VB factoriesMuseum of Ceramics by Villeroy & Boch Anna Boch.com, impressionist painter, famous Art Collector - Boch family 4th generation Eugene Boch.com, impressionist painter, friend of Vincent van Gogh - Boch family 4th generationA history of the Villeroy - Boch porcelain markingsMettlach Exhibition at the American Museum of Ceramic Art
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Villeroy and Boch 1748 establishments in Europe Companies established in 1748 Ceramics manufacturers of Germany Companies based in Saarland German brands German porcelain Merzig-Wadern