Sphinx

Royal Sphinx is a pottery, founded by Petrus Regout in 1834 in Maastricht. The factory origins from the glass-cutting company Petrus Regout & Co, established in 1827. In addition, Peter Regout started a wholesale company in glass, crystal and pottery.

In 1834 Regout started a glass factory and in 1836 he also started to produce pottery. Initially he produced so called faience commune, simple pottery with a soft, red shard, made for the local market.

In order to increase his market share, Regout had to compete with the then very popular English cream ware. This is why Regout employed skilled British workers, and even imported English materials. When his sons became co-directors, the name of the company was changed to Peter Regout & Co.

Bord van Sphinx aardewerk

Originally Sphinx was a glass and earthenware factory, but the glass division was separated from the company and merged with Stella into Kristalunie. As of 1879 the image of the sphinx has been used as a logo and since 1899 the company was called De Sphinx (v/h Petrus Regout & Co.).

From 1934 until 1954 the factory was owned by Adolphe Regout. After the merger in 1958 with Société Ceramique, the company's name changed to N.V. Sphinx-Céramique. In 1959 the company received the Royal predicate and changed its name into Royal Sphinx in 1960. The same year the company acquired the N.V. Aardewerkfabriek De Toekomst (pottery The Future) in Oosterhout.

In 1994 the Swedish company Gustavsberg bought all the company's shares and changed the name into NV Koninklijke Sphinx Gustavsberg.

After a restructuring in 1997, the tile division became independent under the name Sphinx Tiles. By the end of 1999 the Finnish company Sanitec bought Sphinx. In 2001 the name of the company changed into Koninklijke Sphinx BV. The independent tile division Sphinx Tiles went bankrupt in 2008.

In July 2009 it was announced that the production activities of Koninklijke Sphinx BV in Maastricht would completely disappear in 2010. The production was moved to Sweden by owner Sanitec, since the Maastricht plant was too small to be profitable. More than one hundred employees lost their jobs. Only the marketing department and a warehouse remained in Maastricht.


Bron: Wikipedia