In 1836, Petrus Laurentius Regout (1801-1878) established a pottery factory in Maastricht, building on his 1827 glass grinding factory. In addition to this factory, Regout had a wholesale business in glass, crystal and pottery. The Belgian Revolt in 1830 made trade difficult, but from 1834, with the resumption of imports from Belgium, the situation improved. Regout began producing simple pottery and later hired English skilled workers to compete with the popular English creamware.
In 1870, with his sons as co-directors, the firm was changed to Crystal, Glass and Pottery Factories of Petrus Regout, and after Regout's death in 1878, it became a Limited Partnership. The sphinx was used as the logo from 1879, and in 1899 the name was changed to N.V. Sphinx formerly Petrus Regout & Co. Frederik Regout, Petrus' grandson, started wall tile manufacturing in 1902 in Limmel, near Maastricht, an activity that later became part of the company. A sanitary department was added in 1917.