Faience

fa-ience [fahy-ahns; Fr. fa-yahns]

noun: glazed earthenware or pottery, especially a fine variety with highly colored design

origin: 1705-15; French, orig. pottery of Faenza, city in northern Italy

Did you learn a new word?

I did.

You've probably heard of Villeroy & Boch. It's sold in nearly every country - U.S., Canada, all over Europe, Australia . . .

On first arriving in Belgium, I noticed this logo on the bottom of some dishes at a local store and decided I'd like to have a few pieces as a souvenir of Belgium.

I did a little research and if you're interested . . .

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I learned that in 1748, a man named Francois Boch decided to stop his work as an iron caster and make ceramics in the city of Audun-le-Tiche (a city now on the French-Belgian border). He and his sons, Jean-Francois, Dominique, and Pierre-Joseph made cheap and simple pieces that most people could afford.

Audun-le-Tiche became French territory in 1765 and fearing competition from French faience factories, Francois moved his business to Luxembourg (also borders Belgium) soon employing about 100 people.

The French Revolution (1787-1799) turns the factory into ruins, but Jean-Francois is an innovator and starts a new factory in Mettlach, Germany (about 40 miles from Belgium) and installs huge kilns. A few miles away, Nicolas Villeroy has begun an earthenware factory. They produce side by side for nearly 50 years.

The Belgian Revolution in 1830 and the Belgian-Holland Treaty made it difficult for Jean-Francois Boch to supply the Belgian market with his ceramics. In 1836, Nicolas Villeroy and Jean-Francois Boch merged and became Villeroy & Boch. In 1841, land was purchased in Tournai, Belgium and a factory was started there. In 1893, this factory employed 250 and by 1900, nearly a thousand. The company continued to grow until the 1970's, but sadly, went bankrupt in 1988.

It is taken over and becomes Royal Boch in 1989, but again fails. In 2009, the Belgian factory is hopeful for a rebirth when a new owner purchases the factory. In April 2011, a court decides the new owner acted in bad faith borrowing nearly 1 million euros from the local government, but with intentions only of producing the pottery in Asia (Made in China?). He loses ownership and that's the end of the Belgian story.

Villeroy & Boch is still an active company producing ceramics in Mettlach, Germany, however, the company is no longer run by a family member.

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So, anyway, on one of our visits to the local kringwinkel (thriftshop), we found a set of these dishes. They really have no value other than being made in Belgium. We've replaced our old Ikea dishes and are enjoying our new purchase every time we have dinner.

Plus our set of 6 dinner plates, salad plates, bowls, and a couple of cups/saucers was a bargain at €25.

Trivia - Argenteuil is a city in northern France about 10 miles from Paris and did you know argent is French for money?