The long history of La Roche stoneware has taken a new turning. Founded in 1878 by the Kalb family, the La Roche blue stoneware pottery, which was already part of a long local tradition of working clay, was purchased in 1977 by local entrepreneur Jules Jacqmard.
History and evolution
The new owner carried on the tradition, preserved the heritage of the past and ensured the pottery's economic revival by turning it resolutely towards artistic production and an openness to tourism: during the 1990s, faced with competition from China and elsewhere, production had to be limited, and the pottery evolved gradually the new role of pottery museum, much to the pleasure of the visitors, who were delighted to rediscover the potter at work. After some time, the Musée du Jambon d'Ardenne (Ardenne ham museum) moved in to complete the attraction.
Wishing to offer his visitors the best possible welcome, Jules Jacqmard
modernised the visitor experience several times: videos, automated displays, bilingual and then quadrilingual audio commentaries were gradually added to the visit.
But this series of investments, significant though they were, did not satisfy the owner's ambitions for the attraction. This is when he had the idea of working in association with public bodies to create a real renewal of the site - an apparently paradoxical way to promote the traditions of the local area!
From thought-process to decision, from design to completion, a period of almost two years elapsed before the result was reached, a result obtained thanks to the close collaboration between the La Roche village council, Idélux, the Wallonia Region, the Commissariat général au tourisme and of course Jules Jacqmard himself!
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