Muller Frères

Muller Frères were French glassmakers from Lunéville, France. The Muller family counted nine brothers and one sister, and originally came from Alsace (Kalhausen), fleeing from German occupation to Nancy. In 1896, the entire Muller family (father, mother and children) lived in Nancy, which was second artistic capital after Paris back then. Some Muller brothers (Henri, Désiré and Eugène) worked together for Émile Gallé before starting their own business.

In 1985 Henri Muller moved to Lunéville (neighbour town to Nancy) and established his own company, taking along four of his brothers. The sister and three other brothers joined them after, making the company a family affair. Émile Gallé influenced a lot their first designs of cameo glass and organic nature. In 1900, Henri leases space in Croismare (village not far from Nancy) glassworks for some of his workshops from Luneville. At this time appeared the signature “Muller Croismare près Nancy.”

In 1914 the production was stopped as the First World War started, one of the brothers, Eugène, was killed.  In 1919 the Croismare glassworks has been partially destroyed. Nevertheless after end of the war, the Muller family managed to come together again and restart the business. Henri and Désiré bought the majority of the glassworks’ shares, renovated and created “Les Grandes Verrerie et Cristalleries de Croismare”. At the same time they founded the new company “Verrerie d’Art Muller Frères” to name their glassworks in Luneville. The two companies are later united under a new name “Grandes Verreries de Croismare et Verrerie d’Art Muller Frères Réunies SA”.  The headquarters was transferred from Croismare to Luneville.  In 1920-30s they managed  over 400 employees in both Croismare in Luneville glassworks.

Muller Frères moved away from their organic motifs, adopting Art Deco styles of exotic forms and shapes. Muller brothers created and innovated. They generated new trends with objects of all types, colours and for all budgets. The Art Deco chandeliers of that time are impressive monumental pieces. The company never recovered from the Great Depression and the prospect of the Second World War, which resulted in sinking demand in luxury glass goods. Muller Brothers stopped their production forever in 1936.

ReArtDeco in stock