Ref. 1075/1

Lebeuf, Milliet and Cie

Earthenware Manufacture of Creil-Montereau
(19th century)

Orientalist dish

Signed by Cojoie AD, the decor-painter
and on the reverse, LM et Cie, the making mark of the manufacture

France
Circa 1845

Diam. : 50,5 cm (19,6 in.)

A circular hand-painted pottery charger, decorated with an Orientalist scene depicting an Arab ridder and his servant getting out of a town. The piece is outlined with a black and fine gold banded rim.

Biography

In order to compete with the English production, the Creil (Oise) and Montereau (Seine-et-Marne) manufactures began producing « English style » white paste earthenware as soon as the eighteenth century. At Montereau, English potters refugees in France shared their skills with Louis Leboeuf (1792-1854). Under the Second Empire, technical innovations, added to the enthusiasm of the middle classes in the decorative arts, provided a production of fine standard, more accomplished and more diverse. The white clay was then relayed by the opaque porcelain, then whiter, harder and tougher. With the merger of Manufactures of Montereau and Creil in 1840, Lebeuf went into partnership with Milliet (marks « Lebeuf Milliet and Co. » from 1840 to 1874, followed by « Lebeuf and Co. » from 1875 to 1876). Both partners were constantly seeking to discover new and various techniques and patterns of decoration. This golden age lasted until the early twentieth century as the economic crisis appeared. A restructuring process was started and Montereau was preferred to Creil. The takeover by the Choisy Manufacture in 1920 continued the mass production until 1955, when Montereau definitely closed down its workshops.