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In France the utmost importance has been given to the Dining Table up to the point of naming it “The Art of the Table”, an art that is associated to the scenario that will be dedicated to everything related to gastronomy, oenology, crystal glassware, silverware and porcelain. In fact, everything related to the decoration of the table. Recognized as a Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, the Art of the Table goes beyond a well-laid table, it implies the desire to create a favorable and welcoming environment to celebrate events such as births, weddings, family reunions, and enriching these occasions to the extent that they connect us with others. Several important factors intervene in the arrangement of a par excelence table design that enhances its success: Porcelain, Silverware, Glassware and of course, not forgetting the tablecloth and some flowers. To obtain a good result, you do not have to have cupboards full of porcelain. Only two qualities are essential: reflection and dedication. There are as many ways to dress a table as there are personality types. The way of doing it depends on the cultural environment and our way of life. It is important that our guests feel comfortable with the decorative objects we use and not overwhelm them with our efforts. The table is a stage where we can place pieces of porcelain and silver, miniature obelisks and small architectural figures. Whims are acceptable as long as they are not excessive. ... read more

The History of Porcelain In the XIII century, while traveling around China, Marco Polo discovered a beautiful ceramic, unknown in the West. This clay was: As white as jade. As thin as paper. As shiny as crystal. This beautiful ceramic was the result of years of research and tremendous physical labor. Chinese people guarded jealously the secret of the manufacturing process. The kaolin was taken from the foot of the mountains of the South East of China and mixed with feldspar and quartz to obtain a perfect paste. The manufacture of porcelain was so time-consuming that it needed around 72 steps in the process. The key steps were: To mold the clay on the Wheel. To correct faults in the fresh clay. It had to be enameled, painted, decorated, dried and finally had to be put into the kiln. The discovery of the kaolin started a revolution in the porcelain industry and the use of this clay gave new impulse to the Chinese porcelain. Origen of Porcelain Marco Polo was the first to bring to Europe a piece of porcelain. It was a small green bowl that he brought in his cargo along with silks and spices. The Portuguese have been great navigators and during many years they established through a sea route a productive trade between Asia and Europe.In 1509 they reached the Molucas Islands and years later they arrived in China.Part of the oriental goods from the Manila Galleon landed in Acapulco and was transported by land to Veracruz where they were shipped by the Indies fleet on the journey to Spain.Important caravans of mules loaded with valuable goods were protected by an army until they reached Veracruz on their way to Spain. Manuel I of Portugal formally inaugurated relations between the Portuguese Empire and the Ming dynasty. In 1557 the Chinese empire gave a license agreement to Portugal to establish in Macao a very important strategic trading point. Years later in gratitude for their service in defense against the pirates who infested the China Sea, China gave Macao to Portugal as a Portuguese colony until 1999. From that moment it became an administrative Region of China. In 1602 the Chinese Empire bestowed a usufruct of 21 years on the Dutch East Indian Company. It became the most important trading company with Asia for the next 200 years. Hard paste porcelain in the XVIII century This beautiful porcelain quickly became a great success in Europe and many monarchs in the West wanted to obtain the manufacturing process. Thus, Louis XV created his own factory, but in spite of the beauty of the pieces they could never be equal to the Chinese porcelain because the white clay, so coveted, was the kaolin, and it could not be found in Europe. In 1756 the Royal Manufacture is set up in Sevres and the Marquise of Pompadour, a clever Lady highly versed in porcelain culture takes the Factory under her protection. It has been said that the wife of a doctor that didn´t have soap to wash her clothes discovered on the river bank a white oily earth, extraordinarily efficient for washing clothes and this soapy soil was the kaolin. Here begins the History of hard porcelain in France. In 1769 the first hard porcelain is manufactured in Sevres and on the 21st of December is presented to Louis XV. The new porcelain was called “Royal Porcelain”. The Manufacture of the Limoges porcelain was sponsored by the Cte. D´Artois, the brother of Louis XVI. While the Royal Manufacture of Sevres mastered the technique of hard porcelain it became very famous in the European courts. Turgot, the governor of Louis XV in the Limoges area realizes the enormous wealth he has in his hands, so he did everything he could to build a Limoges Factory. Sevres allows, by a mandate in 1766, the setting up of factories in the region of Limoges. But they had the duty of marking all the pieces so they could not be confused with Royal Porcelain. Limoges since then was allowed to have its own Factory. The term Limoges was used generically, not as a name for a particular Factory. Today this is quite a common error. At the end of the XVIII century French porcelain factories were changing their patterns progressively and abandoning Chinese styles. They were finding their own style that would be known later as XVIII century French aesthetics. As the story goes, the first patterns of small porcelain caskets were ordered by Madame de Pompadour, the favorite of Louis XV. The orders she used to make were mainly caskets to offer to her friends. Round caskets were meant to keep thimbles and scissors. Those were her friends’ favorites. Other caskets with a flat shape were used as a powder casket. Courtiers used them to keep tobacco. However, the most common use was to carry messages. A romantic way to make appointments that French people called “Rendez- vous”   ... read more

In less than a decade Herend Manufacture will celebrate its second Centenary. It began in the Hungarian town from which it took its name. It was born a hundred years after the porcelain manufacture was initiated at the beginning of the 18th Century in Europe: first in Germany, later on in France and subsequently in England. This lapse of time has not been an obstacle however, but quite the opposite. The Herend porcelain has reached such a high level of excellence that it is placed amongst the oldest European manufacturers. Birth of a magnificent porcelain factory More than 180 have passed since Vince Stingh created his small porcelain workshop in 1826, not far from the Balaton Lake asnd not too long before the name of this small town called Herend became known worldwide. In 1939 the factory came under the direction of Mor Fischer and between 1851 and 1937 Herend won gold medals and other prizes for its products of fine quality in several international Fairs like, London, Paris, Brussels, Venice and New York, to name but a few. This was a significant sign that Herend had now achieved a place among the great porcelain manufacturers. Since then it has maintained successfully the prestigious reputation gained in a world of constant evolution. Herend porcelain in Europe One of the titles that most distinguished the Herend Factory was when it became the official supplier to the Hapsburg Family Court. The excellent quality of the hand-painted products and the rich variety of patterns became the favorite among the aristocracy of Hungary and abroad. A number of aristocratic families still appear among the Herend patterns: Appony, Esterhazy, Rothschild and Liechtenstein. In fact Godollo got its name from the Emperor Francis Joseph and his Empress Elizabeth. It was made for their Hungarian Palace of Godollo. The Welsh design was later used in the Coronation of Edward VII. However, the real coming out took place a quarter of a Century after its foundation. The first World Fair was to be celebrated in 1851in London. Queen Victoria ordered an extensive dinner service for Windsor Castle, the pattern we know today as “Victoria”. It drew so much attention from the European Royal Families, which gave it an outstanding international reputation that to this day lives on. Since then Herend manufacture is synonymous to porcelain quality. It is one of the biggest in the world with 700 employees present in more than sixty countries. It is known for elegant patterns that combine tradition and the spirit inherited from its ancestors. This includes constant technological innovation and a permanent desire to adapt to the evolution of aesthetic tastes of the XXI Century. For those of us who are familiar with the wide decorative range of Herend, continue to admire the patterns that are well known internationally. I mentioned before the famous Victoria pattern that so attracted the British Sovereign in 1851. This combines almost a hundred butterfly clusters. Also the flowers painted in bright colors that since then have been reproduced today in an immense variation of colors. Shortly after the Victoria Herend created another pattern that would be as famous as the Victoria, called Rothschild, after the well known family of bankers who ordered dinner services decorated with different birds. The story goes that the Baroness Rothschild lost her necklace in the garden of her palace. Some days later the gardener saw a couple of birds playing with something bright and discovered that it was the necklace belonging to the Baroness. Ever since then each plate of this prestigious dinner service is a necklace held by two birds. The pattern has been redesigned and interpreted fully over the last decades. A third decorative pattern we can identify with Herend is the “fleur des Indies”, manufactured in 1930 for the Hungarian politician Count Albert Appony representing a peony as the main motif. It is a simple motif, but so elegant, and in a short time due to its success became one of the most popular patterns of Herend . Today this pattern is manufactured in 10 different colors. Herend porcelain today. Tradition and innovation are characteristic of Herend and along with the most famous patterns designers today develop new patterns and mix colors, combining white, gold, blue and black. After opening the first hand craft workshops, most of which disappeared in the Industrial Revolution, the Herend Factory continues to produce to perfection the Herend porcelain, which is of course synonymous to a rich variety of designs, an elegant style and a wide range of pieces.. It is the factory with the largest production of handmade goods in Europe. Today it employs more than 1600 craftsmen, among them are 700 painters and 220 designers. Herend is more than a product, it has become a legend.  ... read more

In 1600 the Portuguese and Dutch companies who traveled between Europe and Asia brought back to Europe ships loaded with silk, gold and porcelain. Discovered in China the origin of porcelain has been surrounded by mystery. People were fascinated by its whiteness, and its transparency. Even its sound was something totally new. With all these virtues is not surprising that porcelain displaced in time clay, wood and metals that during centuries had been the material support of every day dinner services. Manufacture techniques were exceptional and all the West was searching for the recipe of Porcelain. The Emperor Kangsi (1654-1722) saw in this material a business opportunity. The priority during his reign was to organize pottery industry to focus on the activity of export (given the demand of countries in the West.) For this he rehabilitated the Jingdezhen city were he set up factories and buildings. The city contained more than 3.500 kilns and 1 million citizens who worked in the pottery industry. Emperor Kangsi took care of the secret of the elaboration of the earthware and search a way of production that guaranteed the mystery. He ordered his workers to be specialized. Each one had an industrial task and this way nobody had the hall story to produce the material that was manufactured. Those precious objects were soon to become object of desire, it was urgent to discover the formula and only China new the secret of its manufacture. To cross Asian continent had its dangers and shipwrecks were frequent. One of their most famous was the Geldermalsen from The Dutch Company of the Indies. It Sunk in 1752 was discovered until 1985 by Captain Hatcher in the China sea. More than 150.000 pieces were found. Most of those pieces were given to the Groningen Museum to be studied and the rest were auctioned off at Christies in 1985. The shipments of the valuable white gold that were arriving in Europe from China captivated soon continental Aristocracy. Several European monarchs allocated important materials resources to discover the secret of porcelain jealously kept the Chinese people until at the beginning of XVIII century in the court of the Elector of Saxony when the composition and firing methods were discovered by Böttger. To the triumph of research work was soon added the process of industrial development in Saxony with the creation of the Meissen Factory. During the XVIII century emerged new porcelain factories in France, Austria, Denmark Italy and Spain which produced pieces more and more refine. Along with Meissen emerged important porcelain manufacturers. In the XIX century Herend from Hungary joined all these factories with the same goal to produce fine and beautiful porcelain. Porcelain has universally become a material suitable enough to cover totally excellency all domestic needs related to the art of the table, and it was produced at all levels. To have a porcelain dinner service is no longer a luxury of a few. In the market exist a great variety of possibilities that go from modest white dinner services to a very sophisticated like the Flora Danica from Danemark. This is a botanical encyclopedia from the XVIII century and is linked to the Royal Family. The first Flora Danica dinner service was ordered by King Christian VII as a diplomatic reconciliation gift for Catherine the Great Empress of Russia. Nowadays it is a wedding present from Scandinavian monarchs when a Prince is going to get married. Another example is the Natural History of Buffon. All sort of exotics and beautiful birds decorate a fabulous Sevres dinner service exposed at the Museum Nissim de Camondo in Paris. To this day a lovely porcelain dinner service is a value that does not go out of fashion. In fact it is something to be passed down from generation to generation. ... read more