The history of Haviland and Co. Porcelain is intertwined with Haviland Porcelain as the two companies began and ended as one and the same. The Haviland Porcelain business was begun by David Haviland in the late 1830s in New York. He started importing exquisitely designed and decorated porcelain from France to satisfy the upper class families that visited his shop. His customers did not appreciate the decorations that adorned the fine French porcelain David Haviland imported, though the quality of the porcelain was much higher than that of the English pottery he had been importing.
In 1842, David Haviland moved his business to Limoges, France, the heart of the porcelain industry Haviland Porcelain was born. Haviland Porcelain concentrated on designing fine porcelain decorated in ways to appeal to the American tastes. Haviland Porcelain became the first factory in the porcelain industry to use hired artists to paint the designs rather than outsourcing the work as was the industry standard. This change did not go unnoticed by the porcelain industry. For some time, the artists had to travel in groups to avoid being attacked by decorators determined to protect the old way of doing things. Eventually, all settled down and Haviland Porcelain imported its first shipment to America that same year.
David Haviland's porcelain factory made more porcelain that any other factory had until that point. In addition, Haviland Porcelain was the first factory in the porcelain industry to introduce chromolithography decorations. This is a type of color designing that involves printing a picture on the porcelain while using lithographic plates that each render a different color impression. This technique produces designs of such high quality and stunning detail that almost every porcelain company in the industry began using it.
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By the late 1800s, David Haviland's two sons were prominent figures in the family business. Theodore Haviland was based in New York as Haviland Porcelain's marketing director while Charles was involved in the manufacturing process at the company's porcelain factory in Limoges. With the death of their father, David Haviland, in 1879, the brothers found themselves managing the famed porcelain factory in Limoges together. This arrangement did not suit Theodore, however, as Charles was unwilling to allow Theodore to have as much involvement as he desired. As a result, Haviland Porcelain was sold in 1891.
Each son then founded his own porcelain business while retaining the Haviland name in some form. Theodore Haviland gave his porcelain company his own name while Charles Haviland named his company “Haviland et Cie” which, when translated to English, means Haviland and Co. The brothers remained in heavy competition with each other for the rest of their lives. Each brother claimed to have the highest quality and most beautiful designs while also trying to be known as genuine Haviland porcelain.
Charles Haviland died in 1921. Haviland and Co. went out of business in 1929 after being unable to survive the Stock Market Crash and the Depression that followed. Fortunately, William Haviland, Theodore's son was able to purchase all rights to Haviland porcelain so that Haviland Porcelain was able to continue.
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