Theodore Haviland Limoges China
The pieces i have out are an octagonal covered vegetable bowl, to use the description from Replacements, or a tureen; a covered sugar bowl and creamer, and a gravy boat with attached underplate. The rest of the sixteen place setting service remains unexplored from when my mother delivered it to me. It has made several moves, one across the continent.
Haviland China appears to be an incredible challenge to identify. This pattern has the shape of the Chalfonte, Fleurette, and Paradise patterns: base 1219.
I believe the pattern to be from about 1936 as the base of the sugar bowl (and the other pieces i have out) are marked with the 1920-1936 horseshoe blank, mark O, while the lid is marked with the 1936-1945 shield, mark P. (From this guide to Haviland marks.)
The decorator mark begins usage in 1925, mark r. The pattern is a multicolor floral: pale yellow, pink, and purple flowers scattered across the body, with gold brushed accents on the corners of the octagonal shapes. With all this challenge, i’m using the $10 pattern ID service from http://scottshaviland1.tripod.com/index.html.
They report it is “Schleiger #339 on blank #1217. It is excellent antique porcelain which was made at the Haviland Factory in Limoges, France sometime between 1920 and 1936.” I think it’s more accurately Schleiger 339M. Replacements would like a publishable image of a dinner plate. I’ll see if they still want it when i eventually pull them out of storage.
I know the china predates World War II, as a family story tells of how Tia welcomed an officer’s family to stay in her Little Rock, AK home with only the admonition that they could not use the china. They did, and they broke a piece. This story was told with energy, as if some horrible thing happened, but i think all that happened is that one piece of the set doesn’t quite match.
Could it be this sugar bowl lid?
And it is probably telling of my grandmother’s relationship with her Tia, that some sense of dire consequences of this mis-match hangs over the whole set like a curse.
