The history of Charles Field Haviland Porcelain began in New York. David Haviland, founder of the Haviland Porcelain empire moved to Limoges, France to establish his own porcelain factory. David's nephew, Charles Field Haviland moved to Limoges in the early 1850s as well. He began working in his uncle's new porcelain factory making fine porcelain dinnerware sets. These sets differed from the traditional French made dinnerware in that different shapes were produced and the decorations were designed specifically to appeal to the tastes of the elite Americans.
In his first solo foray into the porcelain business, Charles Field Haviland rented a factory that manufactured porcelain. This factory was situated near his uncle's porcelain factory. He used this building to produce porcelain blanks before sending them on to David Haviland so they could be decorated.
Within a few years, Charles Field Haviland established his own porcelain studio so that he could export his own dinnerware designs to the United States. His designs were similar to the original Haviland Porcelain except they featured bolder and more pronounced artwork. His designs were an instant success and immediately sought after by highly esteemed American families. A few years later, Charles Field Haviland purchased his own porcelain manufacturing factory and operated it with a partner. It operated under the name of Charles Field Haviland Porcelain.
Charles Field Haviland married granddaughter of Francois Alluaud II in 1858. In doing so, he married into one of the largest and most famous porcelain families in France. By the middle of the 19th century, the Alluaud porcelain factory had the largest employee base of any porcelain factory in France. At that point in time, the famed porcelain factory had over 300 employees.
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Due to Charles Field Haviland's sharply honed business skills, requests for Haviland porcelain reached a record high level after he rearranged certain aspects of the business. As a result, the Haviland porcelain company leased a building containing three kilns in order to meet the increased need for the whitewater porcelain.
The old Alluaud porcelain factory was purchased by the Charles Field Haviland porcelain factory in 1876. The sixy year old building was in great disrepair, however. Charles Field Haviland became disenchanted with the project due to the extent of the repairs needed and the high cost. He passed the management duties of the Charles Field Haviland porcelain factory over to a trio of men named Gerard, Duffrasseix and Morel. By 1881, Charles Field Haviland fully retired from Charles Field Haviland Porcelain.
Although Charles Field Haviland was no longer involved in the Charles Field Haviland Porcelain factory, marks bearing his initials were still used for years following his departure. During the Stock Market Crash era of the 1930s, Gerard, Duffrasseix, and Morel purchased the porcelain factory of Charles Field Haviland's cousin, Charles Edward Haviland. That factory's name was Haviland and Co.
By 1941, William Haviland, who was Haviland Porcelain founder David Haviland's grandson, purchased all rights to the Haviland porcelain designs and marks including Charles Field Haviland Porcelain. This brought together most of the various Haviland Porcelain companies under the ownership of one person.
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