{"product_id":"three-haviland-limoges-porcelain-plates-with-embossed-scrolled-rims-and-gilt-tracery-haviland-co-france-c-1894-1931","title":"Three Haviland Limoges Porcelain Plates with Embossed Scrolled Rims and Gilt Tracery, Haviland \u0026 Co, France, c. 1894–1931","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThree plates in white Limoges porcelain, thin enough to carry light through the rim and heavy enough in the hand to feel like the real thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe rim is where the work is. It runs in a gentle scalloped wave, and moulded into it is a low relief of ribbons and scrollwork — raised, not printed, so it catches shadow before it catches colour. Over that moulding a decorator laid a fine gold line, following the raised scrolls where they rise and dropping to a clean band at the very edge. The gold is applied over the glaze and worked by hand; the line varies in weight the way a brush varies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo of the three carry a raised beaded ring circling the well, so the centre of the plate is defined by a fine pearled border. The third has the same scalloped rim, the same moulded scrollwork, and the same gold tracery, but a plain unbeaded centre. It is a different blank, decorated to match — which is worth saying plainly rather than letting a buyer discover it on the table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe reverse carries two marks, and it is the pair of them together that dates the porcelain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst, printed in green beneath the glaze: \u003cem\u003eHaviland\u003c\/em\u003e over \u003cem\u003eFrance\u003c\/em\u003e. That is the factory mark, applied at the works in Limoges before the piece was glazed and fired. Beneath it, printed in red over the glaze: \u003cem\u003eHaviland \u0026amp; Co\u003c\/em\u003e over \u003cem\u003eLimoges\u003c\/em\u003e. That is the decorating mark, applied after the gold went on. Two marks means two stages and two firings, and the combination of this green factory mark with this red decorating mark is the one Haviland used across roughly 1894 to 1931.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Haviland story is an American one told in French porcelain. David Haviland was a New York china importer who could not find French makers willing to produce the shapes and weights the American table wanted, so in 1842 he moved to Limoges and built the works himself — a company producing French porcelain to American specification, and for decades the dominant name on formal tables in the United States. This is the everyday face of that business: not the hand-painted floral service, but the white-and-gold plate a household actually set.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne honest note on age. The mark range runs from 1894 to 1931, so the earliest possible date puts these comfortably past a century and the latest falls just short of it. We are not going to narrow that range further than the marks support in order to call all three antique.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eThree porcelain plates\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMaker\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eHaviland \u0026amp; Co, Limoges, France\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eScalloped rim with moulded ribbon-and-scroll relief. Two plates have a raised beaded ring defining the well; the third is a different blank with a plain centre and matching rim and gilding.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eWhite Limoges porcelain with hand-applied over-glaze gilding\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGreen underglaze factory mark reading “Haviland \/ France” with red over-glaze decorating mark reading “Haviland \u0026amp; Co \/ Limoges”\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ec. 1894–1931\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGood. All three plates are structurally sound with no chips, cracks, hairlines, or repairs, and they ring true. The porcelain is clean and white with no crazing or staining. The gilding shows real wear: it is thinned and rubbed to a soft brown along the outer edge and across the high points of the scrollwork on all three, most noticeably on the rim band. There is light utensil scratching to the centres consistent with use, and remnants of an old paper label adhered to one foot ring. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eSold as a set of three\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhite and gold is the only formal china that never dates, because it commits to nothing. These will sit under any linen, any glassware, any flowers, and they will not fight a modern table the way a pattern does. Three is also the honest number for how people actually entertain now — a small dinner, a dessert course, a cheese plate at the end of an evening.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsed off the table they earn their place just as easily. A single plate under a candle or a small stack on a bathroom counter for soap and rings; two on a picture ledge; all three on a plate rail. Moulded relief and worn gold read as depth from across a room in a way that flat white porcelain does not.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe wear is the argument, not the apology. Gold that has softened to brown along the rim is what a hundred years of hands and washing-up look like, and it is the difference between porcelain that has been lived with and porcelain bought last year to look old. If you want an unrubbed gold edge, buy new.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA note on care: hand wash only, in warm water with a mild detergent and a soft cloth, and dry immediately. Never put these in a dishwasher — the detergent and the heat will strip over-glaze gilding, and once it is gone it does not come back. Never microwave them, since the gold is metal and will arc. Avoid abrasive pads and scouring powders entirely, and when storing them, slip a paper or felt round between each plate so the foot rings do not grind the gold on the plate below.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48028613804137,"sku":"VE-1427","price":112.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_36832_4f8048d5-8d57-4420-963f-623ac7f7e583.jpg?v=1788992216","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/three-haviland-limoges-porcelain-plates-with-embossed-scrolled-rims-and-gilt-tracery-haviland-co-france-c-1894-1931","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}