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Val Saint Lambert is a Belgian
crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...
glassware upTypical drinkware. This list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware), tableware used to set a table for eating a meal and generally glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory ...
manufacturer, founded in 1826 and based in Seraing. It has the royal warrant of King Albert II.


Pre-history – Vonêche glassworks

In 1795 during the
War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...
which brought about the fall of the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
, France had annexed what was then termed the Southern Netherlands, now known as
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. During the period of the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, in 1802
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
Bonaparte asked French industrialist Henri D'Artigues to leave the noted French crystal maker Saint-Louis to buy the dilapidated glassworks at Vonêche. Like Saint-Louis, Vonêche produced lead crystal glass, and within ten years had become the most important crystal producer in the French empire. Two of the key workers in the plant's success were chemist François Kemlin and engineer Auguste Lelièvre. In 1815 following Napoleon's defeat at the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
, the Southern Netherlands was re-united within the new
United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...
. As a result of newly imposed import duties, the Vonêche factory immediately lost most of its French market. In 1816, D'Artigues negotiated with King Louis XVIII of France to buy the Verrerie de St Anne glassworks in the town of
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, and renamed it the Verrerie de Vonêche à Baccarat – a name it kept until 1843. The
Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...
of 1830 meant that the Vonêche glassworks also lost most of its Southern Holland market, and hence closed soon afterwards.


History

In 1825 Kemlin and Lelièvre bought the site of the former Val-Saint-Lambert Abbey in Seraing near
Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
on the river
Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...
. There they founded a new glassworks (still in operation to this day, originally focused on heavy lead crystal), which initially employed some of the key workers from the former Vonêche glassworks. The two founders initially built two houses for themselves, and block accommodation for the acquired former Vonêche workers. Like similar highly religious employers, this policy of complete lifestyle development eventually led to the company building over 200 houses on the site to house workers, in what became a self-service village which also had a general store, school and post office; the local
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
church was also expanded to accommodate additional worshippers. Due to the quality of its designs and manufacturing process, the company developed a well known brand and expanded. Aside from its home territory of Belgium and the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, the largest export market was to then Tsarist-ruled Russia. In 1876 the company opened a distribution base in New York, and in 1889 the company's CEO visited the store, and toured locally based competitor East Coast factories. As a result, on his return to Belgium the CEO noted in his report the then superior quality of American glass and the skill of its crystal cutters, which the company responded to by developing its own "bright" ranges and superior quality cutting. The resulting "bright period" expanded the companies reputation and market especially in North America, and hence today it is well known and collected there for its
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and
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
pieces. In 1894 at the world exhibition in
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
, the company manufactured an over 2 metres high vase consisting of 82 parts and weighing 200 kilograms, which is still intact and now on display at the Curtius Museum in Liège. As the company became more successful – at its height in the period 1900–1914, it employed over 5,000 workers creating 120,000 pieces of glass per day – the company contracted out work to other factories, latterly either buying them or opening new factories, including: Jemeppe (1883 to 1952); two near Namur (1879 to 1935); and Jambes (1880 to 1931, producing oil glass lamps). The company stopped producing during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and post-war after the
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the market in Russia totally collapsed, resulting in financial difficulties and contraction. Exports to North America saved the company, but again it suffered difficulties with the collapse of that market post the Wall Street crash of 1929. The company hence closed the Jambes and two Namur factories, and was stable by the time of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, during which like most of Belgium the factory was bombed by both the Nazi
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and the Allied Air Forces of the RAF and
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. Production resumed initially in the less bomb-damaged Jemeppe factory until the production lines could be restored at Seraing, which resulted in the closure of the Jemeppe factory in the 1950s. Whilst many of the buildings at Seraing were restored, a large part of the site remained as was post-WW2 until the early 2000s, when these derelict 19th century buildings were cleared to create the modern steel-framed factory, visitor centre and small factory shop which exist today, together with the original restored 19th century factory offices.


References


External links

* * * * {{Authority control Belgian brands Belgian Royal Warrant holders Val Saint Lambertl Glass trademarks and brands 1826 establishments in the Netherlands Seraing Companies based in Liège Province