HECTOR GUIMARD, rare set of 5 ceramics, DE BRUYN ed., circa 1900

Hector Guimard (1867-1942) after

Rare set of five De Chalmont planters, De Bruyn ceramic factory, circa 1890/1900

In faience with oval body and four detached handles

Shaded green enamel enhanced with gold and blue on the inside

W. 28 x H. 23 cm

Condition report: a few chips under the base

References:

In the 18th century, Jean Bernard De Bruyn already ran a pottery in Louvain, Belgium.

After his death in 1805, his son Martin De Bruyn ran the earthenware factory, which he then passed on to his son Denis De Bruyn.
It was Antoine Gustave De Bruyn, son of Denis, who settled in Fives in 1864.

Initially established on Rue de Juliers, he moved to Rue de Malakoff, before taking up residence on Rue de l'Espérance at number 22. This is the address where the earthenware factory was built.

From 1887 onwards, the first “decorated slips” appeared from the De Bruyn earthenware factory in Fives-Lille: flowerpots, pitchers, tobacco jars, but also planters and vases, mantelpieces, umbrella stands.
And in 1889 De Bruyn was awarded a medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.

In 1917, a fire ravaged the factory, severely disrupting production.

If at the beginning of the 20th century, the earthenware factory employed some 150 workers and extended over approximately 1.4 hectares, it had up to 400 at the dawn of the First World War.

Sold in the 1950s, the earthenware factory continued to produce before being definitively closed in 1962.