ROBJ

FOR SALE IN OUR COLLECTION

Robj was founded in 1908 by Jean Born. The company's name is an anagram of an abbreviation of the name of its founder, J. Born. Originally, the company offered electric lighters and incense sticks, but gradually moved into the production and distribution of decorative art objects under the slogan Bibleots de Robj. (Robj's trinkets). Together with Lucien Willemetz, Born ran a shop selling porcelain figurines and other objects on the Parisian rue de la Cité d'Hauteville. The company did not produce the art objects itself, but commissioned the creations from several suppliers, including the Manufacture royale de porcelaine de Sèvres, Villeroy & Boch in Luxembourg, and the manufactures of Limoges and Boulogne-sur-Seine. The designs of figures, liqueur bottles and crackle varnish tobacco boxes, in particular, proved to be commercial successes and reached their peak in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Other popular products included porcelain figurines, lamps, aroma lamps, ashtrays, ink containers, bookends, candy dishes and kitchenware.

Jean Born died in a road accident in 1922, after which Lucien Willemetz took over sole management. Robj won a bronze medal at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et industriels modernes. The company promoted Art Deco and Cubist ceramicists such as Maurice Guiraud-Rivière, Charles Lemanceau, Maurice Prost, Francis Thieck, Jeanne Lavergne, Henri Marin and E. Margerie. Between 1927 and 1931, the company held an annual competition to discover new designers. In 1928 alone, 170 entries were received.

Today, Robj products are considered collector's items. They can fetch very high prices. Be careful of reproductions of porcelain figurines. 

SOLD