Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Gallé-Juillet Museum is located in the former Creil Castle in Oise. It consists of two 19th century houses: the Gallé-Juillet house and the faience house. Labeled Musée de France, it preserves medieval remains, such as dogive crosses on the ground floor, and various collections, from archaeology to fine arts.

The house was built between 1846 and 1868 by Jules July, Mayor of Creil, on the foundations of the castle. Transformed into a cabinet of curiosities, it housed 17 rooms on four levels. In 1929, Berthe Gallé, widow of Auguste Gallé and mother of Mauritius (died in the war in 1916), donated it to the city on condition that it be preserved in the state, as an intact testimony of local bourgeois life.

The museum evokes the history of Creil's earthenware, founded in 1797 and active until 1895. This factory, the city's first employer (700 workers in 1840), produced remarkable pieces under the direction of artists such as Jacques Bagnall, a student of Josiah Wedgwood. The collection exhibits 600 fine earthenware, black sandstone services, and creations inspired by the English style.

The collections also include 15,000 works: stamped furniture, ceramics, paintings (including pieces by Émile Gallé, cousin d'Ernest Gallé), antique toys, and a Gallo-Roman treasure discovered in Creil. The house restores the privacy of an affluent family, from living rooms to rooms, to an office-smoker and shell cabinet.

Among the notable occupants were Ernest Gallé (1836–1900), a painter and collector, and his son Maurice, who died at the age of 22 during the First World War. Their mourning prompted Berthe Gallé to bequeath the property to perpetuate their memory. The museum thus opens a window on the Creilloese society, from notables to workers of the earth.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1923, the site combines architectural heritage and industrial memory. His first curator, the painter Gaston Bouy, helped structure the collections, now supplemented by studies on the workers of the factory (1866–96).

External links