Bischwiller 1871 - Paris XXth Century
Daum Frères is the escutcheon of a family of artists glassmakers of which the simple evocation sends back to the narrative of the epic of one of the greatest french crystal business created at the end of the XIXth Century.
Jean Daum was born in Bischwiller (Bas-Rhin). His prolific activity as notary brought him closer to large glassware houses such as Verrerie Sainte-Catherine which he bought in 1878. His sons Auguste and Antonin joined him a year later and helped strengthen the balance sheet and drill the company back to health. Following the triumph that was the Universal Exposition of 1889, Antonin Daum chose to condense and boost the artistic inclination of the company.
Alongside buoyant and salient characters, as Jacques Gruber, Henri Bergé and Amalric Walter, new techniques were created : ‘pâte de cristal’ and glass paste which rapidly spread out worldwide. Longevity and creativity were the two interdependent key factors of the equation which led Daum Frères to success. Indeed, through the prism of success, they endowed themselves the luxury of a constant and everlasting possibility to renew themselves, thanks to their sizable financial ressources. In consequence, their longevity seemed perennial and they participated in almost every Exposition Universelle.