The history of RS Prussia Porcelain dates back to 1861. There are two versions to how this famed porcelain factory got its start. In one version, Erdmann Schlegelmilch started a manufacturing facility specializing in hard paste porcelain in Thuringia, Germany. His brother, Reinhold Schlegelmilch began a porcelain factory in Tillowitz, Germany in 1869.
With the establishment of these two porcelain factories, the Schlegelmilch brothers ushered in a new era of porcelain production for that area of Germany. Before this time, a porcelain factory with private owners was unheard of.
Another version of the history of RS Prussia Porcelain maintains that Erdmann Schlegelmilch and Reinhold Schelegelmilch were not brothers working together. Instead, the men and their porcelain factories were directly competitive with each other. Perhaps the confusion stems from the fact that the owners of the factories were in close proximity to each other and the men had the same, fairly common, last name.
Regardless of the confusion over the beginnings of RS Prussia porcelain, at that time in history when the factories were established, porcelain dinnerware was very popular. Hard paste porcelain was well received by people both in the United States and those in Canada. By 1880, porcelain stamped with the RS Prussia mark was hugely popular with people living in the United States during the Victorian era. Around that year, RS Prussia began its Art Nouveau phase which proved to be quite popular as well. Late in the 19th century, RS Prussia porcelain began a business in order to export their porcelain to the United States and Canada.
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During RS Prussia porcelain's Art Nouveau phase, the molds for their porcelain were highly decorative and often featured bright background colors with decals and other relief decorations. In addition, the pieces were often decorated by hand with gold trim around the edges and other additional decorative touches. Those pieces with a floral pattern were very popular, with pieces featuring animals or portraits popular as well. RS Prussia porcelain fetched a premium price during the time frame.
Although this style of decorative porcelain started to lose popularity with the public around 1910, today it is the most highly sought after and collectible style of RS Prussia porcelain. It is also the more easily found style of RS Prussia porcelain. After this time, people started to demand rather plain and simple porcelain pieces. These were more reasonably priced as RS Prussia porcelain sought to compete with the other porcelain makers at the time.
There were a number of marks used by RS Prussia porcelain. The most recognized mark features the words RS Prussia along with a wreath and crown stamp. Other marks include those that have Germany or Poland along with RS Prussia on the back while a large number are unmarked.
The porcelain factory in Stuhl closed in 1915, likely due to World War II and a shortage of people skilled in the making of such hard paste porcelain. The factory in Tillowitz remained opened, however, and is still in business today. The product that the factory makes today is china dinnerware.
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