Born in 1800 in La Celle-Guénand, Joseph Landais started working in an earthenware factory in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps at the age of 11.
He met Charles Avisseau in an earthenware workshop on rue des Ursulines and, in 1832, married Anne-Françoise Avisseau, Charles’s sister.
Both passionate about the art of Bernard Palissy, they worked hand in hand until 1848, when the discovery of the enamelling technique drove the two men apart, each wanting to claim it as his own.
Joseph Landais went his own way and set up at 21 rue René-de-Prie.
Joseph Landais’s works attracted foreign buyers and were as highly regarded as those of the Avisseau family.
Joseph Landais worked as a family with his son Charles-Joseph (1829-1908) and his grandson Alexandre-Joseph (1860-1912).
Appointed curator of the Natural History Museum, he died in 1883 in comfortable circumstances.