La machine à vapeur

Manufactured by: Ateliers Gardier Frères, Dison, in the 1900sOrigin: Wettstein & Merlot, VerviersVerviers Museum Collection: No. A164The River Vesdre and the factory canal provided the water required for treatment of the wool and cloth but also for driving the water wheels. During the first decades of the19th century, steam did not entirely supersede this type of energy, but it did take on a major role.In Verviers, the first two Watt type steam machines were installed in 1816 in the workshops of cloth manufacturer Henri Sauvage (who purchased an English machine) and by James Hodson, the son-in-law of William Cockerill, textile machine manufacturer, who built his own steam machine. Another textile firm from Verviers, Biolley, also produced steam machines during the first half of the 19th century, in competition with the Houget firm (founded in 1826).Thanks to its connecting rod, this type of rotary steam machine made it possible to transform the reciprocating movement of the piston into a circular movement. Belts transmitted the drive force to the textile machines.The use of these machines meant it was no longer necessary to be located alongside a waterway as was previously the case with hydraulic force and additionally steam provided a formidable driving force.