Printed: 2024-11-23
Beernaert Dry Plate C° S.A.
Identity
Category
Firm
Alternative name or descriptor
- Compagnie des Plaques sèches Beernaert; The Ed. Beernaert's Dry Plate C° S.A. (from 27.12.1892)
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Status
- Connected
Details
Life dates
Activity
1880 * - 1889 Gand, Rue de la Vigne, 16
Company founded in 1880 and capitalized at 300 000 francs. First mechanised factory for gelatine bromide dry plates using Van Monckhoven’s emulsions (20 m² a day). Registered a trademark on 21.11.1885, consisting of the interlocked initials "E" and "B" for use on boxes of dry plates. Became independent of Van Monckhoven in 1886 and produced 400 m² dry plates per day, i.e. 1 500 dozen 13 x 18 cm plates.
1886 * - 1901 / Gand, Allée Verte, 234-235<93-00>or 212-213<01>
As early as 1886 it was the leading Belgian photochemical company: it employed 69 workmen and 16 office staff. Became a limited liability company and was recapitalised at 375 000 francs on 27.12.1892, under the name "The Ed. Beernaert's Dry Plate C° S.A." The major shareholders were Léonie De Coninck (Veuve Edouard Beernaert) and Emile De Coninck, with Victor D'Hondt and Armand Goderus as minority shareholders.
Over the next five years, under the directors Emile De Coninck and A.V. Christiani (almost certainly "Aroldo Valentini"), the factory doubled in size and by 1896 had around 200 employees. "[The site] comprises two halls for plate manufacturing, separated by enormous stores regorging with products; the buildings where photographic paper is made are over 150 metres in length. The firm can comfortably produce 5 000 dozen plates and 10 000 metres of paper a day (Le Petit Bleu du Matin, 23.8.1896).
Emile De Coninck resigned in 1897 and acquired the firm of V. Guéquier & Cie. In 1897 and in order to avoid bankruptcy, the company split into two entities:
1) Ed. Beernaert Dry Plate C°, which set up operations in Quai Saint-Antoine and declared insolvency in 1901;
2) Société anonyme d’exploitation The Ed. Beernaert's Company (see that name).
Patent of 26.1.1897 to the Société anonyme d'exploitation The Ed. Beernaert's Dry Plate Company for "a new process for preparing sensitive photographic layers".
1898 - 1901 / Gand, Quai Saint-Antoine, 4-5
Successor: Thiéry Ferdinand
1896 - 1901 Gand, Rue des Poulets, 16 (factory)
1911 - 1921 Gand, Rue des Femmes Saint-Pierre, 67 or 163<13> [Sint Pietersvrouwstraat]
Recorded in the trade directories, with Ferdinand Thiéry as its founder, its relation to previous incarnations of the firm has yet to be established.
Company founded in 1880 and capitalized at 300 000 francs. First mechanised factory for gelatine bromide dry plates using Van Monckhoven’s emulsions (20 m² a day). Registered a trademark on 21.11.1885, consisting of the interlocked initials "E" and "B" for use on boxes of dry plates. Became independent of Van Monckhoven in 1886 and produced 400 m² dry plates per day, i.e. 1 500 dozen 13 x 18 cm plates.
1886 * - 1901 / Gand, Allée Verte, 234-235<93-00>or 212-213<01>
As early as 1886 it was the leading Belgian photochemical company: it employed 69 workmen and 16 office staff. Became a limited liability company and was recapitalised at 375 000 francs on 27.12.1892, under the name "The Ed. Beernaert's Dry Plate C° S.A." The major shareholders were Léonie De Coninck (Veuve Edouard Beernaert) and Emile De Coninck, with Victor D'Hondt and Armand Goderus as minority shareholders.
Over the next five years, under the directors Emile De Coninck and A.V. Christiani (almost certainly "Aroldo Valentini"), the factory doubled in size and by 1896 had around 200 employees. "[The site] comprises two halls for plate manufacturing, separated by enormous stores regorging with products; the buildings where photographic paper is made are over 150 metres in length. The firm can comfortably produce 5 000 dozen plates and 10 000 metres of paper a day (Le Petit Bleu du Matin, 23.8.1896).
Emile De Coninck resigned in 1897 and acquired the firm of V. Guéquier & Cie. In 1897 and in order to avoid bankruptcy, the company split into two entities:
1) Ed. Beernaert Dry Plate C°, which set up operations in Quai Saint-Antoine and declared insolvency in 1901;
2) Société anonyme d’exploitation The Ed. Beernaert's Company (see that name).
Patent of 26.1.1897 to the Société anonyme d'exploitation The Ed. Beernaert's Dry Plate Company for "a new process for preparing sensitive photographic layers".
1898 - 1901 / Gand, Quai Saint-Antoine, 4-5
Successor: Thiéry Ferdinand
1896 - 1901 Gand, Rue des Poulets, 16 (factory)
1911 - 1921 Gand, Rue des Femmes Saint-Pierre, 67 or 163<13> [Sint Pietersvrouwstraat]
Recorded in the trade directories, with Ferdinand Thiéry as its founder, its relation to previous incarnations of the firm has yet to be established.
Locations
1880 * - 1889 Gand, Rue de la Vigne, 16
1886 * - 1901 / Gand, Allée Verte, 234-235<93-00>or 212-213<01>
1898 - 1901 / Gand, Quai Saint-Antoine, 4-5
1896 - 1901 Gand, Rue des Poulets, 16 (factory)
1911 - 1921 Gand, Rue des Femmes Saint-Pierre, 67 or 163<13> [Sint Pietersvrouwstraat]
1886 * - 1901 / Gand, Allée Verte, 234-235<93-00>or 212-213<01>
1898 - 1901 / Gand, Quai Saint-Antoine, 4-5
1896 - 1901 Gand, Rue des Poulets, 16 (factory)
1911 - 1921 Gand, Rue des Femmes Saint-Pierre, 67 or 163<13> [Sint Pietersvrouwstraat]
Exhibitions
Barcelona, 1888 (Beernaert, Eduardo); Paris, 1889 (silver medal); Antwerp, 1893 ABP (new bromide emulsion); Chicago, 1893; Geneva, 1893 (Ed. Beernaert, S.A.); Lille, 1893 (silver medal); Antwerp, 1894 (silver medal); Arnhem, 1894 (bronze medal); Bordeaux, 1895 (diploma of honour); Brussels, 1897.
Genres / subject matter
Techniques
Bibliography/Webography
ANTHEUNIS, Georges, ‘Een korte geschiedenis van de fotochemische industrie te Gent’ in Fotografie Herontdekt. Gent, Zebrastraat, 2014, pp. 117-127,
Context
Affiliations
Management
Record source
DIRECTORY_1997#166
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation/revision
SFJ revised 20.2.2017, 2.7.2017 & 20.10.2017; SFJ revised 3.10.2020, 9.11.2022 & 27.2.2023 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght; SFJ revised 8.4.2021; MD revised 24.10.2022 & 16.2.2023; SFJ revised 2.3.2023 & 19.6.2023 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght; SFJ revised 23.1.2024 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght