by Amy Granzin for The Antiques News
Stroll through any shabby chic boutique and you’ll see mismatched Limoges plates atop antique-looking tables, or nestled in chipped-paint hutches. An integral part of “cottage style” and neo-Victorian décor, Limoges porcelain is getting a lot of exposure these days.
But Limoges tableware isn’t just for display. Serious collectors pay thousands of dollars for rare hand-decorated seafood, game, and punch sets sold by Limoges dealers. Gilded cobalt-colored oyster plates sell for hundreds apiece on eBay. There’s a wide range of Limoges tableware available today and whether your budget is unlimited, or of more modest means, you can become a collector of what many consider the finest porcelain in the world. There are many reputable dealers across the country who are willing to help a beginners put together a focused collection. There are also many Internet sites such as Antique Networking and goantiques.com where high-quality pieces can be found.
“Limoges” refers to the manufacturing town in the Haute Vienne region of central France where dozens of porcelain factories and decoration shops emerged in the late 18th through the early 20th century. Although soft-paste Sevres was France’s first official porcelain-producer, Limoges soon became the mecca of French porcelain making. The surrounding terrain is rich in kaolin and feldspar, the minerals that are needed to allow hard-paste porcelain to be fired at extremely high temperatures. These elements are what give all Limoges pieces their characteristic pure white color, fine transparency, and remarkable strength.
Many original Limoges manufacturers folded after short production periods, but several, such as Bawo & Dotter (Elite Works), William Guerin, Tressemann & Vogt (T&V), and Haviland endured. Fine examples of these factories, particularly Haviland, are still readily available on the American porcelain market.
Haviland is probably the best known Limoges tableware maker in this country. Founded by American David Haviland in the mid-19th century, Haviland & Company china was designed and decorated to sell to newly prosperous Americans. Several of David Haviland’s descendants founded their own porcelain factories in ensuing decades and thousands of Haviland & Company, Charles Field Haviland and Theodore Haviland luncheon and dinner sets were exported west to the United States between 1865 and the 1920s.
Regional department stores, railroad lines, and hotels commissioned many Haviland sets. Currently, railroad china is one of the hottest areas of Haviland collecting. Railroadiana sites are a good place to start looking for examples. Though generally heavier and less transparent, Haviland pieces marked with the name of a railroad line sell for many times the cost of ordinary Haviland pieces. A regular Haviland teacup and saucer may sell for around $20, while a railroad cup and saucer can easily command prices of $100 and up.
Because so much Haviland china was imported from France, dinner plates with the classic Haviland look-pure white blanks (the unglazed forms) decorated with delicate pastel floral transfers-can be found online and in antique stores for between $10 and $30 dollars apiece. Complete breakfast, luncheon, or dinner sets in good condition, particularly those that contain rarer pieces such as three-part butter dishes or domed pancake dishes, run between $500 and $1,500. Of course, some patterns are more in demand and more expensive than others. Art Stees, Past President of the Haviland Collectors International Foundation says that patterns such as “Princess,” “Baltimore Rose,” and “Meadow Visitor,” are always popular. But there are thousands of Haviland patterns and variations, and because most aren’t named, collecting or completing sets can be a daunting task. Some Haviland owners seek the help of matchingservices, such as Scott’s Haviland China (www.havilandchinabyscotts.com).
Among higher end Limoges tableware, Haviland is only one of several collectible porcelain makers. Debby DuBay, owner of the Limoges Antiques Shop in Andover, Massachusetts (www.limogesantiques.com) and author of the forthcoming Living With Limoges (Schiffer, 2001) deals in a variety of Limoges objects. Her stock includes punchbowls and tea sets as well as tableware 21st century Americans rarely encounter such as ice cream, chocolate, game, and fish sets, by such manufacturers as Elite and Charles Ahrenfeldt. Most are unique, hand-enameled pieces that are grander and much more elaborate than the rather restrained Haviland transferware. Featuring vibrant floral and fruit motifs in rich shades or pink, purple, green and yellow, edged in heavy gilt, these Limoges sets sell in the thousands of dollars.
When buying Limoges, DuBay advises new collectors to “only purchase pieces in perfect condition-no chips, cracks [or] repairs.” Because repairs aren’t always easy to spot, Limoges experts like Linda Harrold of Scott’s Haviland China suggests that buyers run their finger along rims and edges for any unsmooth spots. Collectors can ferret out defective teacups by tapping on them. A clear, bell-like tone indicates an intact piece, while a thudding sound suggests hidden cracks or chips.
The porcelain’s age and maker’s marks are also considerations. DuBay identifies the Victorian period of the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century as the golden age for Limoges porcelain. Identifying an item’s age is usually pretty easy if you know which manufacturer’s and decorator’s marks to look for. Photos and guidelines for identifying the many Limoges marks can be found in the Collector’s Encyclopedia of Limoges Porcelain by Mary Frank Gaston (Collector Books, 2000). This guide also contains full-color illustrations of representative and rarer Limoges pieces.
Because a lot of Limoges dinnerware sets were hand decorated on an assembly line, pieces featuring a professional artist’s signature are less common and thus desirable. But when searching for artist-signed pieces, new collectors should know that amateurs decorated the vast majority of hand-painted and signed Limoges in the late 19th and early 20th when porcelain painting was a popular pastime. While some amateur work is beautifully executed and pieces decorated by certain amateurs artists like “Milar” are avidly sought by collectors, a lot of it is poorly painted and not of much intrinsic value.
Limoges collecting is an enormous field and finding a collecting niche can be overwhelming. Stees advises new collectors to build a complete dinnerware set in a classic 19th century pattern that they can use in their own dining rooms and pass on to their heirs. DuBay firmly believes Limoges collectors should follow their hearts. “Buy it only if you love it,” she advises.
