Haviland marks

How to read it

David Haviland founded a company importing ceramics and porcelain in New York in 1838, Haviland’s own history says, and settled in Limoges in 1842, where he set up his own manufactory. The Haviland Collectors International Foundation says Haviland was the first Limoges maker with artists on site to do the decorating, and made White House china for Presidents Lincoln, Grant, Hayes and Harrison. Frederick Litchfield’s guide of 1912 describes the firm’s mark as Haviland & Co., impressed in the soft clay, together with the painter’s sign on decorated art pottery.

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When David Haviland arrived

The sources give three dates. Haviland’s own history says he settled in Limoges in 1842 and founded his company and factory there. The Haviland Collectors International Foundation says he made his first trip to France in 1840, settled in Limoges, and set up his own company in 1853. Litchfield says he bought a small workshop in Limoges in 1840.

Two Haviland companies

From 1893 there were two firms with the family name. The collectors’ foundation records that Théodore Haviland left Haviland & Co. to start his own company in 1893, while his brother Charles Edward ran the original firm, which went out of business in 1931. Théodore Haviland’s firm used its own marks: the V&A holds a bowl printed in red “Théodore Haviland-Limoges FRANCE”, and a plate marked “T & H” in two concentric circles. The foundation says Théodore moved his company to the United States in 1936 and ran it there until 1957; the V&A’s plate was made at the Limoges factory in 1938, for a state luncheon at Versailles.

Later owners

The foundation gives the line of ownership. The patterns of both companies were bought in 1941 by William Haviland, who retired in 1972. Haviland stayed in the family until 1981, then changed hands several times, was bought in 2005 by the holding company Financière Saint-Germain, and was sold to Bernardaud in December 2024.

Other Havilands

Two other firms used the name. Charles Field Haviland, David’s nephew, made porcelain in Limoges; when he retired in 1881 his name was bought and passed down through several firms. Johann Haviland, David’s grandson, started a company in Bavaria, Germany, in 1907 that was out of business by 1924; the foundation says it has no connection with the French or American Haviland china companies.