Creil-Montereau faience
Creil-Montereau faience was a French industrial pottery manufacturer renowned for fine faience, transfer-printed decoration, and nineteenth-century earthenware.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Creil-Montereau faience was a French manufacturer of fine faience, a form of lead-glazed earthenware made with a light-colored body. Its history brought together two important pottery centers: Creil in the Oise and Montereau in Seine-et-Marne. Although both sites had earlier and partly independent histories, the unified Creil-Montereau enterprise emerged when Charles Gaspard Alexandre Saint-Cricq Casaux, proprietor of the Creil works, acquired the Montereau manufactory in 1819. The two operations were fully integrated from 1840 and became known as the Faïenceries de Creil et Montereau. The manufacturer developed in the context of intense competition between traditional French tin-glazed earthenware and English creamware. The latter had been refined in the eighteenth century by Josiah Wedgwood and offered a bright body, relatively clean surface, and suitability for industrial production. Montereau began producing fine faience in 1749, and several operators attempted to adapt English methods to the French market. Among them was Christopher Potter, an English entrepreneur who operated at Montereau and later at nearby Cannes-Écluse. Potter is associated with introducing copperplate transfer printing onto pottery in France, a technique that allowed engraved images to be reproduced repeatedly and economically. Transfer printing became one of the defining technical and commercial features of Creil-Montereau production. The Creil works were established more durably in 1801 after an earlier venture founded by Parisian glass merchant Robert Bray O'Reilly in 1797 closed soon after opening. The English-born potter Jacques Bagnall directed the Creil manufactory from 1802 and gave its wares a strong stylistic connection to British ceramics. His work included neoclassical designs and black stoneware modeled in part on Wedgwood's black jasperware. From 1811, Saint-Cricq Casaux directed the Creil pottery and subsequently acquired Montereau. The combined business benefited from technical expertise brought by British personnel, while French proprietors and managers expanded its industrial and regional importance. In 1840, the merged works employed approximately 900 people, making the company a major industrial employer. Louis-Martin Lebeuf and Jean Baptiste Gratien Milliet purchased the amalgamated works in 1841. George Vernon and his son served as director and assistant director until 1849 and introduced soft-paste porcelain to the production range. Later, Henry Félix Anatole Barluet directed the enterprise and oversaw significant development at Creil. From 1866, he supported the growth of Saint-Médard, a worker settlement intended to house employees of the pottery. Barluet was also active in local civic life and served as mayor of Creil. At its nineteenth-century peak, Creil-Montereau combined industrial scale with elaborate printed and painted decoration. Its wares included table services, ornamental pieces, and products influenced by fashionable English and neoclassical models. The enterprise helped move French pottery from relatively artisanal production toward mechanized, repeatable manufacture and made transfer-printed earthenware widely available. Its objects are now studied and collected as examples of French industrial ceramics and nineteenth-century decorative arts. The business later became associated with the faience manufactory at Choisy-le-Roi. In 1920, the Montereau works were separated and placed in an arrangement involving Choisy-le-Roi. Production at Montereau continued until 1955, when the manufactory finally closed. The abandoned buildings were subsequently destroyed, and the loss of the archives reduced the documentary record of the enterprise. Creil-Montereau therefore survives principally through marked ceramics, museum holdings, specialist research, and the architectural and industrial history of the two French pottery centers.
History
The history of Creil-Montereau faience is rooted in the development of fine earthenware in eighteenth-century France. Montereau had an earlier pottery activity associated with Jean Rognon around 1720–1740, but production of fine faience began there in 1749 in the Saint-Nicolas district. Etienne-François Mazois operated the kilns between 1755 and 1762 while seeking to compete with English creamware. After a period of interruption, production resumed in 1774 under English partnerships, including Clark, Shaw et Cie and Hall and Merlin-Hall. Christopher Potter became a significant competitor at Montereau from 1796 to 1805. He is credited with bringing the English process of transfer printing from engraved copperplates onto earthenware to France. The process made it possible to reproduce detailed images consistently and at lower cost, helping transform the pottery from an artisanal concern into a proto-industrial enterprise. Potter later operated at Cannes-Écluse, near Montereau, between 1805 and 1815. At Creil, an initial ceramic manufactory was founded by Parisian glass merchant Robert Bray O'Reilly in 1797 but closed after a short period. A more durable works was established in 1801. Jacques Bagnall, a potter from Burslem in Staffordshire, became its director in 1802. His influence was visible in the manufactory's models and decoration, including neoclassical forms and black stoneware related to Wedgwood's black jasperware. Bagnall died at Creil in 1825. Charles Gaspard Alexandre Saint-Cricq Casaux directed the Creil works from 1811 and purchased the Montereau manufactory in 1819. The two operations were progressively consolidated and were fully incorporated from 1840 under the name Faïenceries de Creil et Montereau. In 1841, Louis-Martin Lebeuf and Jean Baptiste Gratien Milliet acquired the combined works. The enterprise had become a major industrial employer, with about 900 workers recorded in 1840. The Vernon family contributed further British technical expertise. George Vernon and his son held senior management roles until 1849 and introduced soft-paste porcelain. Henry Félix Anatole Barluet subsequently directed the works. During his management, the company's transfer-printed decoration developed in new directions, and from 1866 he oversaw the development of Saint-Médard as a worker settlement for employees. Barluet was also a local political figure and served as mayor of Creil. The manufacturer became one of the notable French producers of industrially made decorated earthenware during the nineteenth century. Its products included tableware, ornamental ceramics, neoclassical forms, transfer-printed designs, and black stoneware. The company's significance lies both in its output and in its role in transferring English ceramic techniques into French industrial practice. In the twentieth century, the enterprise became connected with the Choisy-le-Roi faience manufactory. The Montereau works were separated in 1920 in an arrangement involving Choisy-le-Roi. Montereau production ultimately ended in 1955. The abandoned buildings were destroyed and the archives were lost, leaving surviving objects, museum collections, marks, and secondary research as the principal evidence of the brand's history.
- 1955
Montereau production closes
[1]The Montereau manufacture finally shuts down; the abandoned works are later destroyed and its archives are lost.
- 1920
Montereau is separated in a Choisy-le-Roi arrangement
[1]The Montereau works are hived off in association with the faience manufactory at Choisy-le-Roi.
- 1866
Saint-Médard worker settlement is developed
[1]Under Henry Félix Anatole Barluet, development begins at Saint-Médard to provide housing for pottery employees.
- 1849
Vernon management period ends
[1]George Vernon and his son cease serving as director and assistant director after helping introduce soft-paste porcelain.
- 1841
Lebeuf and Milliet acquire the combined works
[1]Louis-Martin Lebeuf and Jean Baptiste Gratien Milliet purchase the amalgamated Creil-Montereau works.
- 1840
The two works are fully incorporated
[1]The Creil and Montereau operations are consolidated as the Faïenceries de Creil et Montereau; the combined enterprise employs approximately 900 workers.
- 1819
Creil acquires Montereau
[1]Charles Gaspard Alexandre Saint-Cricq Casaux, proprietor of the Creil works, purchases the Montereau manufactory and begins the process of unification.
- 1802
Jacques Bagnall takes charge at Creil
[1]The Staffordshire-born potter Jacques Bagnall becomes director and develops designs influenced by English and neoclassical ceramics.
- 1801
More durable Creil works is established
[1]A new pottery works begins the sustained industrial history of ceramics at Creil.
- 1797
First Creil manufactory is founded
[1]Robert Bray O'Reilly establishes a ceramic manufactory at Creil, though the venture closes after slightly more than a year.
Products and positioning
Industrial French fine-faience manufacturer combining English-inspired ceramic technology with French design, large-scale production, and printed decorative wares.
Fine faience
Transfer-printed earthenware
Transfer printing was a defining technical and commercial strength of Creil-Montereau. Designs made from engraved copperplates could be transferred repeatedly to ceramic surfaces before glazing or firing, allowing detailed imagery to be produced more consistently and economically than entirely hand-painted decoration. The technique connected the manufacturer to English industrial pottery practice and supported the large-scale production of decorated tableware during the nineteenth century.
Tableware · 1749
Fine-faience tableware
The company produced practical and decorative table services from fine faience, a light-bodied earthenware covered by a clear, glossy lead glaze. Plates, dishes, serving pieces, and related wares combined industrial repeatability with printed, painted, and modeled decoration. The products served the expanding nineteenth-century market for attractive ceramic tableware made at a price below luxury porcelain.
Decorative ceramics
Black stoneware
Jacques Bagnall developed black stoneware at Creil in a style associated with the black jasperware popularized by Wedgwood. These pieces demonstrate the manufacturer's willingness to adapt fashionable British ceramic models while creating its own French industrial output. The range included ornamental and table-related forms and is represented in museum collections, including the museum at Creil.
Porcelain
Soft-paste porcelain
George Vernon and his son introduced soft-paste porcelain during their management of the combined works before 1849. This broadened the enterprise beyond fine earthenware and reflected the continuing movement of French manufacturers toward a wider range of ceramic bodies and finishes.
Brand decisions
1920
Separation of the Montereau worksStrategyBackground
After the nineteenth-century period of unified Creil-Montereau operation, the business was reorganized in the context of its relationship with the Choisy-le-Roi faience manufactory.
Action taken
The Montereau works were hived off in association with Choisy-le-Roi.
Aftermath
Montereau continued operating for several decades before its final closure in 1955.
1840
Full operational consolidation of Creil and MontereauStrategyBackground
The previously related but distinct works were increasingly managed as one industrial organization serving the market for fine faience and decorated ceramics.
Action taken
The factories were fully incorporated under the Faïenceries de Creil et Montereau name.
Aftermath
The combined enterprise employed approximately 900 workers and expanded its significance as a French industrial ceramics producer.
1819
Acquisition and unification of the Montereau manufactoryM&ABackground
The Creil proprietor Charles Gaspard Alexandre Saint-Cricq Casaux acquired the competing Montereau works after the two pottery centers had developed separately under several French and English operators.
Action taken
The Montereau operation was brought under Creil ownership, establishing the foundation for a unified Creil-Montereau enterprise.
Aftermath
The two works were fully incorporated in 1840 as the Faïenceries de Creil et Montereau and became a major industrial pottery employer.
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