Niderviller Ware

Niderviller ware, French faience (tin-glazed earthenware) and porcelain produced in the 18th and 19th centuries by a factory at Niderviller, in Lorraine. Production of the faience falls into three periods. In 1755–70, under the ownership of Baron de Beyerlé and the artistic directorship of his wife, the decoration was polychrome and made up of naturalistically rendered flowers, birds, and landscapes. In 1770–90, under Count de Custine, the decoration was inspired by the painter Nicolas Lancret. The Lanfrey period, 1790–1827, was the most original, producing trompe l’oeil wares.

The secret of the porcelain was introduced by a workman from Saxony, but when the town became part of France in 1766, its manufacture was forbidden because of royal edicts in favour of the Sèvres factory. The Count de Custine ignored the interdiction and resumed production in 1770. The decoration of Niderviller porcelain is, on the whole, the same as that of its faience.