Roland Blaettler, 2019
In 1824, the entrepreneurs behind Robillard et Cie from Nyon felt the time was right to begin a new venture abroad. In 1822, Jean-Marie and Joseph Marie Charmot, two well-known figures from Sciez near Thonon (Haute-Savoie), had been awarded a royal warrant by the King of Sardinia to produce refined white earthenware and faience at their workshop in a hamlet called Jussy (Maire 2008, 437). Because the Charmot brothers did not have the technical skills to achieve this, they reached out to Robillard et Cie and offered a limited partnership “in exchange for their industrial secrets”.
On 13th March 1824, Robillard, who had been given power of attorney, and the Charmot brothers signed an agreement. Pelichet has a photograph of the document which is signed by all parties and dated 24th April. It lists all the modalities of the contract (Pelichet 1985/2, 30 and 31). The entrepreneurs from Nyon invested 40,000 Savoie Livres in exchange for a share of the profits. De Molin mentions another document dated 1826 which shows that the Charmot brothers were at that stage asking for a period of grace on their interest repayments and deduces from this that the business was not going too well (De Molin 1904, 86). The company, however, was probably no worse off than most similar businesses at the time. In fact, the Savoy manufactory remained in operation until 1839, when it closed down. It reopened a year later under a slightly different company name. It closed permanently in 1848 (Maire 2008, 440). It is not known when the investors from the Canton of Vaud resigned from the business.
In terms of quality, the products from Jussy are just as good as the refined white earthenware from Nyon (see for example MHPN MH-FA-466; MHL AA.MI.2265; Unil MH-RE-331; Unil MH-RE-332; Unil MH-RE-333).
Translation Sandy Haemmerle
References:
De Molin 1904
Aloys de Molin, Histoire documentaire de la manufacture de porcelaine de Nyon, 1781-1813, publiée sous les auspices de la Société d’histoire de la Suisse romande et de la Société vaudoise des beaux-arts, Lausanne 1904.
Maire 2008
Christian Maire, Histoire de la faïence fine francaise 1743-1843, Le Mans 2008.
Pelichet 1985/2
Edgar Pelichet, Les charmantes faïences de Nyon, Nyon 1985.
