Biography

The Daum crystal factory was founded in 1878 in Nancy by Jean Daum (1825–1885).

Following the war of 1870, Jean Daum, notary in Bitche, sold his Moselle office. The annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by the German Empire caused great renewal for the city of Nancy. Indeed, from 1870, a flow of capital, ideas, skills and know-how will allow Nancy to become one of the pillars of French decorative arts.

In 1876, Jean Daum settled in Nancy and lent money on several occasions to Avril and Bertrand, owners of the Sainte-Catherine glassworks in Nancy, a factory which produced bottles and ordinary gobletware. Despite this financial aid, the owners were forced to sell their factory to Jean Daum who became head of a company of 150 workers, in a field about which he knew little.

In 1878, Jean Daum involved his son Auguste (1853-1909), but he did not experience the company’s first successes. Upon his death in 1885, Auguste took sole charge of the glassworks before being joined in 1887 by his brother Antonin (1864-1930), who had just graduated from the Central School of Arts and Manufactures in Paris. Antonin begins by embellishing common table services and is responsible for the creation, while Auguste ensures the administration. Familiar with glass techniques through his training, Antonin directs production towards artistic creation.

The two brothers set up, between 1889 and 1891, an artistic department entrusted to Antonin to whom Auguste gave all the means and invited him to follow the path dug by Emile Gallé, initiator of Art Nouveau glasswork. Antonin starts with a few simple models, quickly continuing with acid etching, then moving on to models using wheel etching techniques, two or three layer glasses. Jacques Grüber was the first artist at the Daum glassworks, recruited in 1893: he was entrusted with the creation of pieces with a view to appearing at the Chicago Universal Exhibition of 1893. This was the first great success which propelled Daum into the closed circle of art industries.

Under the leadership of Émile Gallé, they were part of the movement which created the École de Nancy of which Antonin Daum became vice-president.

The benches and hall of Daum trained some of the great names of Art Nouveau: Jacques Grüber, of course, Henri Bergé, Almaric Walter, as well as the Schneider brothers who made their debut there.

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