Skive Lervarefabrik was in operation with production of earthenware from 1882 to 1954, last located at Østerbro 9.
Start in Thisted
Anders Søndergaard Jacobsen was probably Thisted’s first potter. He is found in the 1880 census with both family and helpers. He lived on plot no. 354 in Vestergade (now Dragsbækvej).
Anders S. Jacobsen was born in 1845 in Hundborg as the son of farmer and potter Jacob Larsen. He was married to the three years younger Ellen Marie, who came from Thyholm
Relocation to Skive
In 1882, A. S. Jacobsen sold Thisted Lervarefabrik and moved to Skive, where he started Skive Lervarefabrik.
The word “lervarefabrik” is a term that appears in these years. The term brings to mind mechanized manufacturing, but in Thisted, Skive and many other places this was not the case.
A. S Jacobsen built a two-storey factory building and an outbuilding on Østerbro – the current Østerbro 12. The address at the time was “ved Jærnbanevejen” In the beginning, there were 3 – 4 employees, gradually more were added and space was tight.
In 1897 there was 1 linen factory in Skive with 7 journeymen, 3 apprentices and 2 laborers. Skive Lervarefabrik sold glazed and unglazed products throughout Denmark (especially Jutland) and advertised its products in newspapers in Skive, Viborg, Holstebro and occasionally Randers.
In 1897, Jacobsen built a new factory across the street at Østerbro 9 – next door to Skive Jernstøberi. The front building was erected in 1907. It was adorned with bands of clay tiles depicting potter’s wheels with a star – the brand of the clay factory – in the middle.
Facade decoration with the pottery factory logo – a potter’s wheel with a star – in clay tiles
The clay for the factory was sourced from Søby (red clay) and Dalsgård (blue clay). The actual production was manual, but larger series of flowerpots, jars, pickling jars and the like were often produced. Decorative items such as vases, water vaporizers, jardinieres or pot holders were also made.
New owner 1919
On March 11, 1919, the company was taken over by Niels Primdahl (*1886). A. S. Jacobsen died the following year, at the funeral he was named manufacturer.
Primdahl was trained as a merchant and not a potter. He saw the advantage of combining wholesale sales of glass, porcelain 
and earthenware with ceramics. In the shop in Østerbro, you could buy both.
He modernized the pottery factory with new machines and production methods. In 1936, 9 people were employed.
At the Crafts and Industry Exhibition in Skive in 1924, Lervarefabrikken exhibited “mainly coarser clay products for utilitarian use but did not shy away from things of a more decorative nature”. In the mid-30s, 9 workers were employed processing the clay from Højslev Teglværk.
Gradually, the clay products faced stiff competition. Salting as preservation in large glazed salting jars was replaced by deep freezing in cooperative freezers. In addition, glass jars for storing jams and the like began to be made, and flower pots were mass-produced by machine.
Production ceased, but the building remained standing
The clayware factory at Østerbro 9 ended around 1954, when the building was sold to the neighboring GYRO. Primdahl continued to operate from the main building until 1955.
The property has since been rented out for both residential and commercial use. From 1985, the City History Archive had premises there for a period. Around the turn of the millennium, further additions were made and the whole building is now converted into a residential rental property.
Sources :
- History of Skive Municipality 1880 – 1940 vol, 2 p. 257
- Skive Folkeblad 8.7.1897
- Skive Dagblad 19.09.1903
- Skive Folkeblad 01.04. 1921
- Skive Folkeblad 06.05.1924
- Skive Folkeblad 24.01.1936
- Manufacture of pottery in Thisted by Svend Sørensen, Historisk Årbog for Thy og Vester Hanherred 1991