Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Colbert promoted the royal mirror-glass manufactory established under Louis XIV in 1665, using privileges and skilled workers to challenge Venetian imports. It is an early example of the state trying to create a domestic industrial capability rather than simply buying a finished product abroad. A royal charter and protection were not the same thing as a modern nationalised company. The case helps distinguish state sponsorship from ownership, and industrial ambition from evidence that every protected venture succeeded.