Turn the plate over – Sephari Germany

By Rafe Calder

A plate says a good deal on its underside. A name, a shield, sometimes a place, and often a phrase about where it was made. For Villeroy & Boch, the German ceramics house that still has its headquarters in a former abbey at Mettlach, those marks changed many times, and a few reference sites have tried to list them.

The two families

The company’s own history page says François Boch and his three sons began making ceramic crockery in 1748, and that this marks the company’s birth. Two other pages place the first workshop at Audun-le-Tiche in Lorraine.

The second family is Villeroy. According to the company’s history, Nicolas Villeroy acquired an earthenware factory at Vaudrevange, today Wallerfangen, in 1791 with two partners and became sole owner in 1797. A porcelain-marks reference gives 1789 and says he “starts” the factory. The two dates differ by two years, and neither page explains.

The Boch and Villeroy factories merged in 1836 to form Villeroy & Boch. All the pages we read agree on that year.

The abbey

In 1809, says the company, Jean-François Boch bought the former Benedictine abbey at Mettlach on the Saar. The marks reference says he built a mechanised tableware plant there, and the company’s page says the building is now its headquarters. The marks guide says the incised mark used until 1900 shows the abbey.

The earlier works had its own date trouble. The company’s history says Pierre-Joseph Boch received authorisation from the Empress Maria Theresia to set up a factory at Septfontaines, in Luxembourg, in 1766. The marks reference gives 1767 for the founding of Jean-François Boch et Frères there, and a producer page we saw only in a search excerpt gave 1767 for the start of industrial production at the same place. Authorising a factory and starting production need not be the same moment. Our reading: that may explain 1766 and 1767, but no page says so.

Tiles, stoneware and Dresden

The marks reference dates a “porcelain stoneware”, a white, stable earthenware resembling porcelain, to 1829. It says the Mettlacher Platten, the floor tiles, were introduced in 1852 and that Mettlach became the first factory in Europe to specialise solely in tile production. The company’s history agrees on 1852, with Eugen von Boch’s team making wall and floor tiles that became successful worldwide, and adds a mosaic factory in 1869.

The marks guide says Eugen von Boch set up an earthenware factory at Dresden in 1856, to serve more European markets. A Dresden mark, then, is not a mistake on a Mettlach plate. It is another works.

What the marks show

The marks reference lists 51 marks and gives date ranges for many. The marks guide offers a shorter timeline. Their entries line up closely. Here is what they say:

Until about 1900: an incised or impressed “Mettlach VB” mark, usually with a copyright remark (both).
1874 to 1909: a blue-inked Mercury mark carrying the company name and either “Mettlach” or “Wallerfangen” (marks guide); the reference gives the same span for a group of marks that may read “Made in Germany” or “geschützt”, meaning protected.
1913 to 1947: an encircled “V&B” over an “M” over “Made in Germany” (both).
After 1955, into the 1960s: a simplified Mercury mark (marks guide).
1970s to 1990: a wordmark reading “W. Germany”, then “Made in Germany” after 1990 (both).

Neither reference gives a date-code system. The guide says plainly that dating relies on the style of the mark, and that some marks are still in research and undated. The reference adds that an “Old Abbey Ware” export mark is found on cheaper series.

One caution

The marks reference says the Gallo Design marks are not Villeroy & Boch marks, even though they are often attributed to the company since its 1986 acquisition of Gallo. If a backstamp reads Gallo, the reference says it is not a Villeroy & Boch mark. It is worth checking before you buy.

Dates in order

1748: founding, according to the company.
1809: abbey bought, according to the company and the marks reference.
1836: merger, according to all pages.
1852: Mettlacher Platten, according to the company and the marks reference.
1856: Dresden works, according to the marks guide.
1971: a tableware design the producer’s about page calls La Boule (seen in a search excerpt) and the marks guide calls “Die Kugel”; both credit a family designer, whom we do not name.

Side by side

Septfontaines: 1766 (company history) against 1767 (marks reference).
Vaudrevange: 1791 (company history) against 1789 (marks reference).
Dresden mark years: 1874 to 1909 (marks guide), the same span the reference gives for its blue-inked group.

What kind of sources these are

The company’s own history, a mark-reference site and a pottery-marks guide. The company promotes itself and the other two are collectors’ reference pages, not archives. No museum or archive page was reached, so the dates are claims.

Questions a buyer would ask

Can I date a plate from its mark? Roughly. Both references say marks changed by period, and the guide says there is no date code.

Does “Mettlach” on the base mean the plate was made at Mettlach? The marks guide says the place name on a blue-inked mark may be Mettlach or Wallerfangen, so the name is part of the mark, not proof of one works.

Is a Gallo mark a Villeroy & Boch mark? No, according to the marks reference.

What we left out

Prices, the border and wartime history that the marks reflect, a factory-closure list, and the glass and sanitary-ware divisions.

Quick answers

When was Villeroy & Boch founded? According to the company’s history page, François Boch and his three sons began making ceramic crockery in 1748. The Boch and Villeroy firms merged in 1836.

Where is the Villeroy & Boch headquarters? The company says Jean-François Boch bought a former Benedictine abbey at Mettlach in 1809, and that it is now the company’s headquarters.

Can you date Villeroy & Boch tableware by its mark? A pottery-marks guide says there is no date-code system and dating relies on the style of the mark. Its timeline runs from incised abbey marks to 1990s wordmarks.

Roam first. Shop later.

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