(1798 - 1816) The first earthenware in Longwy with Charles Regnier
The Longwy pottery factory is one of the last born among those that flourished in the eighteenth century in Lorraine, Saarland and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The birth of this new factory is dated 1798, year in which Charles Regnier and three partners buy the buildings of the former convent of the Carmelites, sold as national property, to manufacture the first Longwy earthenware.
No bones investors are not professional ceramics and they will have to surround himself with professionals to embark on the adventure. It seems that at least one worker of the pottery Boch de Septfontaines, whose presence in Longwy is attested from 1795 to 1802, could participate in the startup of the company. From the beginning, the organization of the production of crockery is almost industrial. She one was available in two quality:
- red clay made with local clays, several places of extraction are known in Cutry, Haucourt, Herserange, Heumont and Mexy but of which no room is known at the moment.
- Fine white earthenware and transparent glaze that had two fairly similar variants, the "terre de pipe" shaped with clay imported from Cologne and the "cailloutage".
The decor was done by hand. The diversity of production is not well known; only plates and some pieces of form could be identified, thanks to their marking. In 1801, the Factory had 35 workers and 50 laborers and two ovens. It made the majority of its sales in Moselle and Luxembourg (Belgian Luxembourg Province and the currentGrand Duchy).
1804 Napoleon 1st commissioned the very young company a service for the houses of the "Legion d'Honneur". The siege of Longwy by the Prussians, in 1815, marked the end of this first period in the history of the Longwy earthenware.
