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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Casseaux oven, located on Rue Victor-Duruy in Limoges, is a porcelain oven emblematic of the local industry. Built in 1900 for the Gérard-Dufraisseix-Abbott (G.D.A.) factory, it succeeds a factory founded in 1816 by François Alluaud. This 80 m3 cylindrical furnace, with eight alanders, operated according to the Minton system (patented in 1873), using a spilled flame technique to cook up to 15,000 pieces simultaneously. Its structure in refractory bricks (120 000 units) and iron, 21 meters high with fireplace, makes it a technical masterpiece.

The oven consists of two chambers: the globe (cooking at 900°C for the dew) and the laboratory (cooking at 1,400°C for the enamelling). The flames, introduced into the laboratory, passed through the carneaux before reaching the globe, regulated by a chimney valve. Built by Pierre Blondeau and rebuilt in the 1920s by Lamour and Leclerc, it ceased its activity in the 1950s with the advent of gas tunnel furnaces. The factory, taken over by Ceramine and then Royal Limoges, was partially destroyed by fires.

Ranked a historic monument in 1987, the oven was saved by the Espace Porcelaine association, which opened to the public in 1992. It bears witness to the golden age of limougeaude porcelain, linked to dynasties such as the Alluaud or the Haviland. Its name comes from the Casseaux district, on the edge of Vienna, where floating wood fed local industries was landed. Today, it is a major heritage site, managed by the association and integrated into a museum space.

The oven building, made of granite and cut stone, originally had two ovens. Its industrial architecture (lantern roofs, metal frame) reflects the transformations of the years 1890-1900, led by architect Henri Geay. Traces tearing off the gables are evidence of the disappearance of other adjacent furnaces. The site, a private property, remains accessible and valued as a symbol of the limougeaud industrial heritage.

The Casseaux oven embodies a technical revolution: the Minton system, developed by Herbert Minton and Léon Arnoux, optimised coal cooking. Its classification and preservation illustrate the recognition of this heritage, while its urban environment (near Vienna, former RN 520) recalls its anchoring in the economic history of Limoges. The photographs of Boudeau and Audiguet also document the flotation of wood, a key activity for its operation.

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