Rare Johann Haviland Porcelain Trio Set (Germany, 1920s)

As any other piece curated by OBOL, this amazing porcelain trio set also comes with a story, dating back to the 1840s, when the American Haviland family - importers of porcelain to the US.

David Haviland was a New York based importer/exporter businessman who recognised the excellent quality of French porcelain and wanted to bring it to America. The story goes that he saw a French porcelain tea service and found the material of this set as super to that of the English porcelain and earthenware that used to be imported by him across the Atlantic. David then took that set with him all the way to France and basically started asking anyone he thought might know, in what locality it was produced. Eventually, when in Paris, someone told him that it was Limoges porcelain.

David was so smitten with the French dinnerware that he decided to only import French porcelain and even took a major life decision to move to France in 1842. After moving to Europe, the New York business was handled by his brothers Edmond, Daniel, and Robert that would take sell the curated porcelain he found in France.

He then quickly realised that in order to get the sort of porcelain that would “speak” to the American consumers, he would need to open his own factory and be in charge of the decorating/design process - but that is not going to be as easy as it sounds. Before, he would have his pieces produced in Limoges then sent to Paris for decoration, however it was problematic because decorators would add their own marks to the ware and, additionally, Parisian decorators were quite stubborn and they were not willing to modify their design to suit the American taste. And, as one does, David decided to open his own school for decorators to have them trained in the style that combined English and French designs.

Business was blossoming, both in Europe and America, David’s sons, Charles and Theodore grew up and starting adding their own unique style to the designs. In 1879, David passed away, and the two sons, as they could not agree on the ways of moving forward with the company, split it in two, incorporating the family whilst basically wagging a war for the best spot in the market.

I mean, the competition was so fierce and kind of funny, that when one Theodore Haviland China set went on sale, Charles Haviland would reduce a similar set and if Charles offered an 15 piece porcelain set for a certain price, Theodore would offer a 25 piece set for the same price.

Charles, had a son, Jean, who grew up as well into the business, but when he came to age, he wanted to distance himself from the family feud and so he moved to Germany, change his name to Johann and in 1907 he opened his own pottery factory in Bavaria, under the mark Johann Haviland, which leads us to the story of the trio porcelain set we`ve found.

Johann wanted to produce simple yet elegant serving pieces, and so he did, however he only stayed in the business for few years and by 1924, he sold the company to an Italian firm that in 1933 sold it to the Rosenthal Group.

Thus, produced during early 1920, this porcelain trio set, it’s a remarkable piece of memorabilia from a bygone era, entailing the simplicity and elegance that Johann aimed to achieve in his designs. With superb colloidal gold details and a delicate floral pattern, this has survived through the Great Depression, a World War and through many generations till today and it’s more than ready to still have it’s story told and kept safe into your home.

Product specifications

Country of manufacture — Germany

Condition —Excellent — This vintage/antique piece is in near original condition. It may show minimal traces of use.

Restoration and Damage Details — Patina consistent with age and use.

Material — Ceramic

Size — 19 cm Ø large plate; 15 cm Ø saucer; 6 cm H x 10 cm Ø