Devambez

The engraving business acquired by Devambez just before the Franco-Prussian War was founded in 1827 at No. 17, passage des Panoramas, as a "modest store" by Brasseux the younger. He was the younger brother of Brasseux the older, an engraver established in the galleries of the Palais-Royal who was known to work for king Louis Philippe I. As his brother, Brasseux the younger was specialized in stamps, medals, heraldic engraving and stone engraving. In 1835, the business was moved to n°5 of the passage, due to the renovation of the latter. According to an article published in 1927 in L'ami des lettrés, Brasseux the younger was moderately successful in his business and did not succeed to enlarge significantly his customer base. He sold the business in 1863 to a M. Beltz. Beltz in turn sold the business who ran it for the next seven years, after which it was bought by Édouard Devambez.

Édouard Devambez was born on 11 March 1844 in Saumont-la-Poterie, Seine-Maritime. He served an apprenticeship with the prestigious engravers (and his cousins-in-law) Jules Joseph Foulonneau and Jean Henri Hillekamp at 4, Galerie Vivienne, Paris. When Édouard Devambez married Catherine Veret in 1864, he was entering the illustrious dynasty of Muret and Veret – two families prominent in engraving at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1873, Devambez acquired the atelier at 5, Passage des Panoramas, leaving his workshop of rue Saint-Thomas.

Devambez engraver and fine printing

Édouard Devambez, described in Bénézit as an engraver of book-plates, began exhibiting his work at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, winning a bronze medal in 1878 and a silver medal in 1889 in the category "artistic printing and heraldic painting".

Among the specialities of La Maison Devambez at this time were: book printing and production; type-founding; engraving on steel, copper, lead, wood, and stone; printing; typography; lithography; colour printing and colour lithography; calligraphy; colouring; stamping; binding; gilding; and the sale of inks, paints, journals, ledgers, papers, boxes, stationery, leather goods, and special fabrics.

In 1890, the business moved to 63, Passage des Panoramas, where what began as a simple printing studio became a prestigious store that attracted clients such as the House of Orléans, Roland Bonaparte, the Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and the Élysée Palace and the Hôtel de Ville, entrusted with the printing of official menus and programmes for receptions for visiting foreign monarchs such as the Emperor of Russia Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for their visit in Dunkerque on 18 September 1901. Devambez was also appointed official engraver to the Royal Family of Portugal. Devambez produced the traditional Livre d’Or (Golden Book, or Presentation Volume) for important events such as visits by the King of Spain or the King of Great Britain, and Livres d’Or for the Pasteur Institute, the Red Cross and others. After World War I the firm also produced Livres d’Or to commemorate the fallen, for instance the Livre d’Or de la Compagnie Algérienne 1914-1918.

The reputation of La Maison Devambez continued to grow, with further medals at the Expositions Universelles, with a gold medal at Brussels in 1897, a Diploma of Honour at Toronto in 1898, and a gold medal in the category "engraving and printing" at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1900. At this exhibition (for which Édouard Devambez served as a member of the jury), he was named a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, and also obtained the prestigious title of Notable Commerçant.

M. Lahure, reporting on the 1900 Exposition, wrote:

'Monsieur Devambez, with the soul of an artist, loves his art with a passion, but this has not hampered him in making the House of Devambez one of the foremost engravers in Paris. His whole exhibit shows so artistic a taste and so meticulous an execution that the reputation acquired by M. Devambez would have grown even more, if that had been possible.'"