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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The factory of the Ostrich was founded in 1619 by Pierre Blanchet, who set up an oven in the old inn L-Ostrich on Rue Saint-Genest in Nevers. When he died in 1625, his widow Vincente Dupin took over, before the workshop passed into the hands of several owners, including Denis Lefebvre (1633-1635), Sébastien Dupont-Saint-Pierre, then Esme Godin and Pierre Custos, who bought it in 1643. The factory split into two parts in 1655, with on one side the Custos heirs retaining the original buildings, and on the other Esme Godin exploiting the Georgeon Well. After complex successions, Anne-Marie Petit united the two branches in 1708 and led the whole until 1728.

In the 18th century, there were several changes in the direction of the factory, notably under Louis Custos, his widow Marie Vallet (1747-1754), then Louis Estienne Pierre Custos de Chaumois, who sold it to Pierre Marie Enfert in 1799. In 1810, she employed 65 workers. After successive takeovers (Lyons family in 1827, Pierre Lancelot in 1846, Étienne Marie Héron de Villefosse in 1855), production ceased in 1862. Briefly released from 1874 to 1878 by Michel Chalandre and his brother-in-law Zeitvogel, the ironworks finally closed that year.

The oven of the Ostrich, built in the seventeenth century and extinguished in 1878, is a rare testimony of the cooking techniques of the era. Chemized with refractory bricks and reinforced with foothills, it had a basement (house and ash pit) and two floors now disappeared, where the enamelled parts were cooked at nearly 1,000 °C for 2 to 4 days. Ranked with heritage, it illustrates the industrial importance of Nevers in the history of French faience. The remaining buildings, including a house with a bossed façade, recall this flourishing activity.

The farmhouse of the Ostrich was listed at the Historical Monuments in two stages: the master house (8 rue Saint-Genest) in 1946 and the oven in 1995. Property of the town of Nevers, the site bears witness to four centuries of craftsmanship and innovation, from Pierre Blanchet's artisanal beginnings to the industrial revolution, through the family dynasties that marked his history.

The historical sources, notably the works of Jean Rosen (La Faience de Nevers : 1585-1900), underline the key role of this factory in the local economy. The earthworks are also part of a wider network of Nivernais workshops, such as those on Rue des Marais or Contrerescarpe, which made Nevers a major centre of ceramic production in France in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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