Villeroy & Boch - The Standard in Dinnerware

Villeroy and Boch became the supreme dinnerware company it is today when two rivals Francois Boch and Nicolas Villeroy merged their two companies to form one company in 1836 in order to survive. Today the company is world renowned for its future thinking designs of dinnerware, glassware and cutlery.

Francois Boch originally started producing ceramic dinnerware - plates, cups and pots – in 1748 in the small village of Audun-le-Tiche, by hand. In 1809 he bought Benedictine Abbey and set up, designed and invented many production machines for use thereby laying the ground work for a transition from ceramics made manually to industrial manufactured dinnerware. In 1829 his factory in Mettlach invented a new type of dinner war called Porcelain Stoneware which is bright white and extremely hard.

Nicolas Villeroy started in dinnerware manufacturing in 1791 with his factory in Vaudrevaneg. His factory produced dinnerware using a copper plating system for serial production.

Villeroy & Boch have achieved success for over 260 years through inventiveness, creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit. They offer a large range of products from their two main product sectors "Bathroom and Wellness" and "Dinnerware".


You can visit the Villeroy & Boch Discovery Centre in Mettlach, a walk through park, which costs $4.75 for the day to enjoy, you can see their cultural influence display as well as displays about what they envision in the future for “home and living”.

One of the most popular displays is the Tableware World of Discovery which takes you into realistic settings of beautifully arranged dinnerware sure to inspire you. Or, you can take in The Museum of Ceramics which has a wonderful display of ceramics from the late Baroque period till today, including the chamber pots of nobles.

But Villeroy & Boch, the company is not just focused on the past they have a well planned out strategy for the future.

Their goal is to become the top lifestyle brand for all interior furnishings. They plan to offer architects and interior designers as well as end consumers, solutions for decoration and design under specific areas.

The current "House of Villeroy & Boch" will be broken down to the following categories, “well-laid table” for dinnerware and cutlery, "single-source bathroom” for bathroom fixtures such as tubs and commodes, and the "tile for living-areas and the construction-project sector” for decorative tiles and other construction related material.
Their exquisite products are of the highest quality and are designed to brighten the everyday lives of people through-out the world. The Villeroy & Boch brand stands for quality and style.

You can see the full line of Villeroy & Boch Dinnerware at DinnerWareDepot.com your best source for dinnerware on the web.

Lennox China - The Dinnerware of Presidents

Lenox was started in 1889 by its founder Walter Scott Lennox. Born in Trenton NJ in 1859, the foremost center for the American Ceramics industry in that time, Walter Lennox combined his interest in drawing and clay and began working at a pottery plant as a designer and decorator at 16 years old.

When he turned 22 he became joined Ott & Brewer as their design director. Ott & Brewer eventually folded a few years later and that’s when he decided it was time to go it on his own.

A mere seven years after taking the design director position Walter Lennox was starting his own company the Lenox's Ceramic Art Company opening it’s doors in 1889. Walter created his ceramics as an art and even positioned his new company as an Art Studio instead of a factory. Most of his early productions were one-of-a-kind made of ivory china.

The Lenox China was originally made buy only 18 employees and consisted of a line of vases, pitchers and tea sets. Since he had laid the groundwork for his productions to be consider art they were picked up by the most elite shops of the time. In 1897 even the Smithsonian Institution showed a collection of Lennox China.

In the early 1900’s fine home dining came into vague and Lennox was quick to transition his company to handle the new dinnerware needs of the country. He began offering full sets of dinnerware to very exclusive families in early 1902, fighting the European control over the fine china trade.

As America’s demand for Lennox China continued to grow he changed the name of the company to Lenox Incorporated to reflect his reversal of philosophy from the Ceramic Art Company to more of a mass production company.

The company’s first large scale productions of Lennox China came in 1910 and were patterned with transfer prints that were then colored by hand. In 1917 Lennox China went to full color lithographic designs. The original two designs, Mandarin and Ming, were popular in America for over 50 years. These decals made sure every piece of dinnerware was decorated exactly the same and created a type of trademark look. Hosts were excited to have the new patterns on their dinner table that were easy to recognize so their guests knew they could afford Lennox China.

Lennox was becoming known as the china to have in the United States. In 1918 the white house ordered 1,700 pieces for official state services. Lennox China was the first American china to be used at the white house and has remained that way since.

Walter Scott Lennox dies in 1920 having succeeded in his quest for "perfection of American porcelain."

You can see the full line of Lennox China at DinnerWareDepot.com your best source for dinnerware on the web.