Villeroy & Boch Tableware

Villeroy & Boch embodies European culture and has spanned many countries across central Europe, as the company expanded, as well as the change in borders over the centuries. The company began life in 1748 in the tiny village of Audun le Tiche, where Francois Boch set up a pottery company with his three sons. Expansion followed, with factories built in Luxembourg and then the purchase of the former Benedictine abbey in Mettlach on the river Saar, where the corporate headquarters for this prestigious company remains to this day.

During the 1820's production took a leap forward as Jean-Francois Boch, having trained at the Ecole de Sciences in Paris, developed an earthenware that looked and performed like porcelain, producing a more affordable tableware that facilitated considerable growth in markets across Europe and America. 1836 saw the joining of forces with its major competitor, to create the dynamic Villeroy & Boch.

By 1843 it had set up Cristallerie in Wadgassen, developing a glass and crystal collection, and thus developing the full range tabletop concept that has remained an integral element of the corporate strategy. Villeroy & Boch did not just stop there, additions to the product portfolio include tiles and sanitary ware. Being one of the first to make major advances in the making of such large and cumbersome items, they were soon being commissioned for water vessels and included those for Louis II the Bavarian 'Fairytale' Prince.

Villeroy & Boch was devastated by World War II, with many of its factories destroyed or annexed through the Soviet Union occupation and installation of communist governments in Eastern Europe. But by 1957 Villeroy & Boch managed to return to pre-war production levels, and remain a global leader in ceramic products. Investment in design and advertising through much of the later part of the twentieth century means that the House of Villeroy & Boch is recognized around the world for quality, authenticity and a truly inspired product collection.