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The guides allow 10 photos, so the photos of the marks will be separated into Haviland eras.

The Haviland Dynasty created a name easily recognized out of the Limoges china era. David Haviland is considered partly responsible for the turning point of the Limoges porcelain industry occurring in the mid to late 1800s. He opened his own decorating studio where artists decorated china. He made the decorating workshops part of his factory. The basic difference between Haviland porcelain and the porcelain made by other Limoges companies are not in the quality of the porcelain, but in the types of articles manufactured and the type of decorating employed. These pieces were most often vividly decorated, and frequently hand - painted, with floral, fruit, and figural scenic themes. Pieces were often elaborately fashioned and embellished with gold. She explains that the more elaborate pieces with elaborate gold work are painted by hand. ~ From the Pages 13 & 14 Collector's Encyclopedia of Limoges Porcelain. Third Edition. Mary Frank Gaston (Copyrighted in 2000).

Before the 1870s, Haviland was hand painted. The Haviland Dynasty encouraged variety it sold, it reflected originality and emphasized the wonderful art, botanicals and gold work. In 1870's, lithographic presses were used and the production of china increased 4 times. Some people call this a tranfer process, I would say this is having an art pattern that is then hand painted. Antique Staffordshire (highly beautiful, collectible and expensive) is a transfer process, but doesn't see the hand painting, the placement of the pattern doesn't change.

If the plate looks hand painted & the mark is from the 1880 era : "As well as hiring artists full time on staff, they also hired independent artists to work for them." P89. Evolution of Haviland China Design, by Nora Travis. Copyright 1997.

These designs were reflected in the variety of subject matter along with balance of color & form. In comparing the same design on two plates of the same set, seldom are they exactly alike. This is because the artisan applying the transfers did not alway place them exactly the same on each piece." Some of the variety in the transfer would be: the artisan working on the plate determined the placement of the art pattern or transfer, the art pattern would have differences in the color of the flower, the flower type, the outline color used, the foliage and its placement. The plate would continue to have variety other than art pattern, the plate could have different use of the Schleiger identified blank ~ the plates shape~ the color applied to the edge of the plate border or the hand painted gold work applied. Variety was something the Haviland Dynasty loved. Some popular patterns have more variety in them than the alphabet.

 In Haviland china: the outline of the pattern was pressed on to the piece and filled in by hand. One of the Haviland books records Haviland employing 1200 artists and they could produce 6 plates a day. Haviland encouraged artistic freedom and creativity.

Please see my other guide, The Haviland Dynasty: Classic Beauty Porcelain Art  for a more complete history of Haviland.  David Haviland began his search for perfect china conditions after seeing a beautiful china cup and saucer. He moved from America to Limoges, France for the pure white clay. He opened the Haviland & Co. china company in Limoges in 1842 and ran the company until 1865. He died in 1879.

The Older Haviland Marks: David Haviland & Charles

 H & Co. This mark is impressed & used from 1865 - 1875. Mark B

 H & Co. This mark is green underglaze & used from 1876-1879. Mark C

 H & Co. This mark is green underglaze & used from 1876-1886

   Circle. Haviland & Co. Limoges. From 1879- 1889. Mark g.

    Upper mark: H & Co. L France. From 1888 - 1896. Mark H. Two marks are used on this piece showing the clay was pressed into the shape (by calibrated machines that the Havilands were first to employ) earlier than the factory art was applied.

It is important to note that almost all Haviland receives a mark. If you purchase a 3 piece butter server, the mark will be on all 3 pieces. Haviland sometimes sold whiteware, it was an important creative art for ladies of the day to paint china, but almost never without a mark.

Haviland is sometimes reproduced and is fake. It is usually older Limoges and is marked without the "Co". Sometimes it is just an H and sometimes it is just H & C.

Lower mark: Semi-circle. Haviland & Co. Limoges. From 1876-1878/ again in 1889-1931. Mark c.

  Haviland France. From 1894 - 1931. Mark I

The word depose means patented. The tarif law of 1891 decreed that all china must declare it's origin, so by law, if the china came from France it must be marked. Haviland began marking all of its china with the word France in 1888.

Older Haviland is more rare and tends to be more expensive when the quality is good. During the 1880s, Haviland hired independent arts and the china is very definitely hand painted. Although without an artist's signature. But the mark would be from the 1880s.

Email is a wonderful thing, I am happy to answer questions about items in my shop! Unfortunately, due to time constraints and because china must be held to be identified and appraised, I refer people to the larger china shops with a staff for identification and appraisal.

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