Haviland

David Haviland was an American businessman from New York dealing with porcelain. While seeking out new business interests, he arrived in Limoges, France and by 1842, he was able to send his first shipment of Limoges porcelain to the United States. He was also key in adopting a new process by which to decorate porcelain pieces developed in 1873.

In 1890, David Haviland's son, Théodore Haviland, built a very large and prominent factory in Limoges and introduced a variety of new processes for firing and decorating porcelain pieces. The Haviland company has since been overseen by grandson William Haviland, and great-grandson Theodore Haviland II.

Haviland & Co. is still operating as Haviland Company, through the facilities are now modernized and now sell silverware, crystal, and giftware in addition to porcelain.

Haviland porcelain is highly desirable Limoges porcelain. Many of the older pieces are still in existence and are desirable as an antique or collectible item. It is estimated that there are as many as 60,000 Haviland porcelain patterns, though it is difficult to determine as many of the patterns have never been formally named or catalogued, and factory records are incomplete. Attempts to catalogue the pieces have resulted in several systems, including the creation of Schleiger numbers, and informal naming by collectors.

Schleiger Numbers

This numbering system was developed by Arlene Schleiger beginning in the 1930s and was published in 6 volumes, and covered approximately 4000 examples of Haviland & Co. porcelain.