Pair Of Earthenware Tobacco Jars From Langeais Decorated With Berries, 19th Century

Pair of Langeais earthenware tobacco jars decorated with berries 19th time (1862) Creamy white background with platinum highlights Cylindrical jars composed of a set of gadroons imitating 1 tree trunk Decor covered with platinum of branches in relief and berries treated in the round bump always posed by 3 Ring-shaped grip Creamy white background Very good general condition Slight wear of the plate and 2 missing berries No mark but 1 number in platinum under the 1 and 1 hollow number under the other Inside each pot 3 points placed in an equilateral triangle (discreet Masonic presence) h: 13 cm d: 10 cm History of the pottery: In 1839, aged 22, Charles de Boissimon settled in Langeais with his cousin, they founded a company of ceramic products and refractory bricks. Presented in 1841 at the Exhibition of "Industrial and Arts Products in Tours", they received a silver medal, but it was with the making of decorated pottery that he would create his style. He will participate in many international exhibitions and will win many medals. In 1850, he became sole owner of the factory. The materials used at that time already offer great possibilities of colors obtained from metal oxides such as chromium, cobalt, copper, tin, iron, manganese, lead, uranium, zinc... which produce greens, blues, grays, yellows, shades of red, browns and ivory. Charles begins to offer customers vases, cups and lamps decorated with grapes and vines. Charles de Boissimon was also a winegrower and would like to draw inspiration from nearby nature. The production was very diverse: ivy berries, currants, acorns, cherries... Between 1850 and 1860 there was a real explosion of techniques. Brongniart advised Charles to add kaolin to Langeais clay to make it even more malleable. C. de Boissimon will then be able to give free rein to his imagination. There are vases, woven baskets… It was in 1862 that Charles de Boissimon filed a patent “for printing gold and platinum on vitrifiable materials”. This material is still little known, it is imported from Peru and Chile. Here begins the period of the Langeais with platinum decoration. This unalterable and stainless metal gives earthenware an incomparable shine. Charles de Boissimon died in 1879. His son, a doctor, left management of the factory to Paul Arthur Busson de Langeais. Little investment is made in the factory. In 1889, he too died. His widow will do everything to save the company but in vain. The company was sold in 1909. The new owners tried to revive the factory and again made artistic earthenware that they intended for foreign markets. The 1914 war breaks out. The plant is dedicated solely to the production of refractories. At the end of the war tastes changed, the production of earthenware was definitively abandoned. The Masonic Langeais: The Langeais with Masonic decorations with the symbols of the great builders are rare but the abundance of plant decoration elements presented in groups of 3 reveals a strong affiliation. The Langeais are for many tripunctuated, whether they are triads of ivy berries, acorns or others. There is a real evocative composition of the Masonic 3 points. These 3 points are also found very discreetly affixed to the bottom of all woven baskets as well as to the bottom of tobacco jars. They are presented very discreetly in 3 points without cover affixed in an equilateral triangle. This is done so subtly that one could believe in traces of pernette but the perfect gap between the points suggests that this was done using a tripod provided for this purpose. Many pieces also bear the 5-pointed star. The membership of Charles de Boissimon to the Freemasons is not revealed but his work is the reflection of a man of duty and progress. Several earthenware workers were part of the Lodge of Tours. Langeais earthenware is the most discreet and subtle of Masonic ceramics. The number 3: The three was considered among all pagan nations as the main mystical number, because according to Aristotle, it contains within itself a beginning, a middle and an end. In the Christian religion the number 3: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, was obviously sacred. Therefore, the incorporation of the number three in stonemasonry ceremonies would have been an expression of their Christian faith. In Freemasonry there are 3 degrees: apprentice, journeyman and master. There are 3 principal officers in the Lodge: The Worshipful Master, the First Warden and the Second Warden. There are 3 lit candles arranged around the altar which is in the center of the Masonic temple. There are 3 symbolic moral pillars: strength, wisdom and beauty. In old Masonic documents, the abbreviation point is replaced by the "tripod", that is to say 3 points arranged in an equilateral triangle. This is exactly what is found inside many Langeais earthenware pieces.