Q: During a recent
visit to Natchez Mississippi and the Pilgrimage Tours, I saw many beautiful
examples of what the docents called Paris China. This was both vases and
full dinner settings of china. When I search the web for more information
on Paris China, I do not find any information. Would you please tell me
more about who made this china and what is the correct name? Thank you.
A: I am sure that the docents were referring
to "old Paris" which is old French porcelain. Nineteenth century French
porcelain wares prior to the 1870s or 1880s were typically unmarked. Since
these wares are unmarked and pieces can't easily be attributed to a specific
factory, collectors use the generic term "old Paris" to describe them.
The ware is slightly thick porcelain, sometimes elaborately decorated with
flowers and color and sometimes not, but nearly always banded with gold.
The gold decoration on these wares has a tendency to wear off, but even
these worn pieces are collectible. (The wear gives a little insight in to
the age and history of the pieces.) You are correct, there were dinnerware
sets made in addition to vases and accessory pieces. Pairs of mantle vases
are very typical and must have graced many middle and upper class 19th century
American homes.
Old Paris porcelain is frequently found in the south stemming obviously
from the French colonial ports and the French influence in and around the
Louisiana area.
Another interesting note is that an American retailer named David Haviland
traveled to France in the 1840s looking for porcelain (old Paris) like a
piece that one of his customers had shown him. He found the wares being
produced in the Limoges region of France and later opened a factory there
to manufacture and export porcelain back to the U.S. Even today, Haviland
is perhaps the best known name of all French china.
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