An American name in Limoges

David Haviland was born in New York State in 1814 and ran a china importing and retail business in New York. Accounts of the family history say he went looking in France for the maker of a porcelain he admired and traced it to Limoges, the city whose porcelain industry grew up around the kaolin deposits found nearby at Saint-Yrieix in the eighteenth century.

He settled in Limoges in the early 1840s, and 1842 is the founding date usually given for the firm. Sources differ on exactly when each stage began, but the general sequence is clear. Haviland first bought and exported porcelain made by others, then set up his own decorating workshops in Limoges, so that pieces no longer had to be sent to Paris to be painted. Manufacturing of the porcelain itself followed over the next two decades, and by the mid-1860s the firm was producing its own ware. In 1864 David made his sons, Charles Edward and Theodore, partners. David Haviland died in Limoges in 1879.

Three Havilands collectors should know

The family name appears on several different marks, and it helps to keep the main firms apart.

Firm	Who	Approximate dates	Notes
Haviland & Co.	David Haviland, then his son Charles Edward	1842 to 1931	The original firm and the source of most antique Haviland dinnerware.
Theodore Haviland	David’s younger son	from about 1892	Theodore left the family partnership in the early 1890s and built his own large factory in Limoges.
Charles Field Haviland	David’s nephew	about 1859 to 1881	A separate business. Marks with his initials continued after he sold the factory (see below).

Haviland & Co. After the brothers dissolved their partnership in the early 1890s, Charles Edward continued the original firm. The two companies competed until Charles Edward’s death in 1921, and Haviland & Co. closed in 1931.

Theodore Haviland. Sources give 1891 to 1893 for the split and the start of the new business. Theodore’s firm carried on long after the original one closed. In 1941 his son William acquired the rights to the Haviland & Co. name and patterns, and production in Limoges continued under the family for decades. The company has since changed hands several times; in late 2024 it was acquired by the Limoges porcelain maker Bernardaud.

Charles Field Haviland. Charles Field Haviland (1832 to 1896) worked with his uncle in Limoges in the 1850s before starting his own decorating business. He married a granddaughter of François Alluaud, founder of an important Limoges porcelain factory, and took over the Alluaud factory in 1876. In 1881 he sold it to Gérard, Dufraisseix et Morel, which kept using his initials in its marks. Pieces marked CFH/GDM date from that later period, and the firm later became Gérard, Dufraisseix et Abbot (GDA). So a piece marked CFH/GDM was not made under Charles Field Haviland himself.

Blanks and patterns

The blank is the undecorated shape: the outline of the plate rim, the molding, the form of the handles and finials. Haviland made many blanks, and collectors know some of them by name, such as Ranson and Marseille. Some blanks have a plain rim; others have scalloped edges or embossed detail, with or without gold.

The pattern is the decoration applied to the blank. The same pattern can appear on different blanks, sometimes in more than one color, and a single blank carried many patterns.

Why many patterns have no name

Most antique Haviland was not sold under pattern names printed on the china. The firm produced thousands of decorations, and a back mark tells you the maker, not the pattern. Some patterns did carry names, often given by retailers or importers, but a great many did not.

The Schleiger numbers

The common reference that collectors use today comes from Arlene Schleiger, a collector from Omaha, Nebraska. In the 1930s and 1940s she began searching for pieces to complete her mother’s Haviland set, and found she needed a way to tell the many patterns apart. Her book Two Hundred Patterns of Haviland China grew into a six-volume series, published between 1950 and 1991, with the final volume issued by family members after her death.

Schleiger gave each pattern a number as she recorded it. Close variations are distinguished with letter suffixes, so #33 and #33A are related but different patterns, and pieces of one should not be assumed to match the other. These “Schleiger numbers” are still the standard way to describe an unnamed Haviland pattern, and you will see them in dealer listings and replacement services.

A Schleiger number identifies the decoration. For a good match you also want the same blank, the same gold treatment and, ideally, marks from the same period.

The forms in a large dinner service

Antique Haviland services were made for formal dining, with a separate piece for almost every course. A large set might include some or all of the following.

Plates

• Dinner, luncheon (or breakfast), salad and dessert plates
• Bread and butter plates
• Rimmed soup plates and coupe soups
• Oyster plates, in some services

Cups and bowls

• Teacups and saucers, coffee cups and demitasse cups
• Bouillon cups and cream soups, usually with saucers
• Small fruit or sauce dishes, and cereal bowls

Serving pieces

• Platters in several graduated sizes
• Covered vegetable dishes, round or oval, and open vegetable bowls
• Soup tureen
• Sauce or gravy boats, sometimes with an attached underplate
• Covered butter dish and individual butter pats
• Cake plates, compotes, celery trays, relish and pickle dishes
• Teapot, coffee pot, sugar bowl and creamer

Not every service included every form. Sets were often bought in stages, so a family set may have plenty of plates but only a few of the larger serving pieces.

Reading Haviland marks by era

Haviland marks were used over long and sometimes overlapping periods, so a mark gives an approximate range rather than an exact year. Collector references record dozens of variations. The broad patterns below are a starting point; our guide to Limoges marks covers the wider field.

Two marks, two jobs. Haviland pieces often carry two marks. A factory mark, applied under the glaze (for Haviland & Co., usually in green), shows where the porcelain was made. A separate decorating mark, applied over the glaze and found in red, blue, brown and other colors, shows that the firm decorated it. A piece with only the underglaze mark may have been sold as a white blank and decorated elsewhere, often by a home or studio china painter.

Haviland & Co., 1870s to 1931. The green underglaze “H & Co.” style marks appear from about the late 1870s, with “France” added in later versions. Overglaze decorating marks naming “Haviland & Co. Limoges” were used in many variations through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some pieces also name the American retailer that sold them.

Theodore Haviland, from about 1892. These marks spell out “Theodore Haviland” with “Limoges” and usually “France.” Later twentieth-century versions often add wording such as “Made in France” or, from 1936 onward, may indicate American production, since the family also made Haviland china in the United States for a period.

Charles Field Haviland and successors. Early marks show “CFH” alone. Marks combining “CFH” with “GDM” date from after 1881, and “GDA” marks come later still, in the twentieth century.

If you would like a second opinion on a mark, our Identify Your Limoges page explains what to photograph.

Gold trim and care

Gold on rims, handles and finials is a large part of Haviland’s appeal, and also its most fragile feature. It sits on top of the glaze, so it wears, most often from dishwashers, abrasive cleaners and stacking plates without protection. A few practical points:

• Wash by hand in lukewarm water with a mild detergent, one piece at a time.
• Never use a microwave. Metallic gold can spark and will be damaged.
• Avoid the dishwasher. Hot water and detergent can wear gold and painted decoration over time.
• Store with care. Place felt or paper rounds between plates, and store cups upright, side by side, rather than nesting them.

For more detail, see our guide to caring for antique Limoges.

What makes a set desirable

• Condition. Chips, cracks, hairlines and crazing all matter. Bright, unworn gold is one of the first things collectors check.
• Completeness. A service with matching place settings for eight or twelve, plus serving pieces, is more useful and harder to assemble than an odd lot.
• Serving pieces. Tureens, covered vegetable dishes and large platters were made in smaller numbers and are more likely to have been broken, so their presence adds interest.
• Consistency. Pieces on the same blank, with the same pattern and gold treatment and marks from a similar period, look right together on the table.
• Factory decoration. A Haviland decorating mark confirms the decoration was applied at the factory, which many buyers prefer.
• The pattern itself. Some patterns and blanks are simply more sought after than others, and taste shifts over time.

Browse our antique dinnerware to see sets we currently have, or visit our We Buy Antique Limoges page if you have a set you are thinking of selling.

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