News from the British papers is that Portmerion has bought “certain pottery assets” of Spode & Royal Worcester. Spode & Royal Worcester has been under administration, an English form of bankruptcy, since this past fall. “Certain pottery assets” would appear to be the patterns and brand names only. Until now, there had been no news as to what the fate of these old brand names would be. Reportedly the sale price is £3.2 Million, which is $4,690,000 at current exchange rates. Much reporting in the British press on the story right now. No word on where this leaves Royal China & Porcelain Company, the United States subsidiary of Spode & Royal Worcester. The deal included the purchase of Spode & Royal Worcester inventory in the United States, currently owned by Royal China. Perhaps Portmerion will be making their newly acquired Spode patterns in England at some point? More news to come, no doubt. Read here, here, here and here.
Six months on, Spode-Royal Worcester still lingers under administration by receivers, which is an English sort of Bankruptcy.
Here at Hanley-Wood, the situation makes us sick to think about. It was bad enough when Spode moved almost all of it’s manuafacturing to India or Malaysia a year and a half ago, but the quality had been maintained pretty much, and they hadn’t raised their prices. Still it had been sad to see that “Made in England” backstamp vanish from the back of the plates.
It now appears pretty grim out there for Spode-Royal Worcester. We eagerly await news of a buyer stepping in to take on this grand old name. However, latest reports from the Staffordshire newspapers don’t sound too good. Read here, and here, and here for hints of what might be going on.
Alberto Milani of Buccellati tells us about a fabulolous new piece they have created. Conceived and designed by Gianmaria Buccellati, this amazing marine life centerpiece is formed around an extraordinary Tridachna Gigas natural shell from the Philippine Sea, laying on a base of silver sea waves.
The edges of the shell are decorated with an irregular silver trimmed frame. An octopus and a lobster, hand embossed and chiselled, fight on top of it. The shell is 27.6 x 18.1 inches. The center 31.7 x 26.4 inches. And the price… Well, as Alberto tells us, true luxury is not for everyone. Ask us and we will inquire.
Thomas Wedgwood, a descendant of the family that founded Wedgwood China, and other family members are leadign a buy-out offer to try and purchase Wedgwood China from the Waterford Wedgwood Group, british newspapers are reporting.
If successful, this would end the merger of the two firms, and possibly save Wedgwood from ending up being made in East Asia. A goal of the buy out offer is to try and preserve Wedgwood as a high end brand.
This buy out offer by the Wedgwood family is in opposition to the takeover bid offered for the bankrupt firm by an American firm, KPS Capital. Read the Times of London article. Also, read the BBC article about Wedgwood in Jakarta, too; apparently the huge new factory there is one of the more desireable assets of the current Wedgwood.
In related news, Denby is laying off workers. The world is going to hell again. And in typical contrary fashion, dear old Royal Crown Derby is releasing a $10,000 a plate china pattern, doing everything the other firms have not been doing.
Last week, Laura Bush showed reporters two new china patterns designed for the White House. The patterns had been in the works for several years and are to be the last items to be added to the White House collections under the Bushes.
For informal use in the family quarters, Laura revealed a hand-painted Anna Weatherley service of 75 place settings, decorated with Magnolias and butterflies seen on the White House grounds. The set of 75 place settings cost $74,000. The china itself was made by Pickard China in Illinois, designed by Anna Weatherley, and was hand-decorated in Hungary by Anna Weatherley’s painters.
The other additon to the White House china is a gilt-edged Lenox china in green, a color chosen to complement the red Reagan service and the gold Clinton china. Inspired by James Madison-era dishes favored by Laura, the porcelain place setting has a green basket-weave border and the dessert plates have a laurel-wreath motif copied from Dolley Madison’s Limoges dinner plates from around 1800. The White House ordered 320 14-piece-place-settings of the new service from Lenox, at a cost of $492,798. The new Lenox was made in North Carolina.
Read about it in the Washington Post Washington Times
We hear from Buccellati that they have created a fabulous unique object. The Rose of the Dolphins table has sterling silver dolphins and base supporting a rose-colored Rhodochrosite top. Exquisite.
From Buccellati:
In Greek mythology Dolphins were portrayed as the messengers of Poseidon, God of the Sea, and were celebrated during the Renaissance by artists & sculptors such as Verrocchio, Bernini and Raphael. When Gianmaria Buccellati decided to create a magnificent table with a base of two sterling monumental Dolphins he was faced with the decision of what material to use for the top. Lapis and Malachite were both possibilities. However, since he had used each of these materials in the past, he looked around for something as unique as the Dolphins that would support it. He knew that in the 1930’s a rare and beautiful stone, with delicate patterns of swirling pink colors, was being marketed as the “Rose of the Andes.” To this day the majority of this stone, now known as Rhodochrosite, still comes from the San Luis mines in the mountains of Argentina. After much searching Gianmaria was able to find a rare Rhodochrosite mosaic, and so was born this extraordinary example of decorative art now known as the Rose of The Dolphins.
They say the mosaic table top is exceptionally strong, and that it could support the weight of two Italian jewelers standing on it. It is 50″ long and 21″ high.
It looks fabulous. It might be one of those “if you have to ask…” sort of things about the price. Call Hanley-Wood and we would be happy to inquire.
The travails of the European tabletop industry continue. Waterford-Wedgwood PLC has confirmed plans to sell off Rosenthal, their German porcelain subsidiary. What next? Royal Doulton? News reports here, and here . For a number of years, Waterford Wedgwood has been in a lot of financial trouble due to the decline of the dollar against the euro; most of their business came from the United States, but most of their manufacturing has been in the Euro-zone. Other companies, such as Spode, have adjusted by moving manufacturing to Asia, but Waterford really hadn’t done that route, as they had been moving their manufacturing to Eastern Europe, to the historic crystal-making lands of Central Europe. But, oops, those places in Eastern Europe are now in the Euro-zone. Rosenthal is probably one of their best assets to sell off as I’d say it’s fair to say, Rosenthal has never seemed to have a great preponderance of their business in the US market.
Deutsche Welle has an interesting article about issues facing the German porcelain industry, facing declining sales and Chinese competition in the low and mid range products. The article concludes that German porcelain makers should focus on products of exclusive luxury, and holds up what Meissen has been doing to survive as an example other firms should follow.
The LA Times wrote a very interesting article about one of our favorites lines, Gien. We love the wonderful designs of Gien, and the stuff is perfect for use everyday. From the article:
For generations, the French upper classes made leisurely weekend lunches in the gardens of their country homes a hallmark of the “art of living well.” On languid afternoons, they arrayed long outdoor tables with platters and tart molds imprinted with family monograms and crests; dessert arrived on trays splashed with vivid portraits of animals, and coffee came in pots decorated with fruits and flowers.
And for the best families, only the glazed earthenware made in a factory in this town on the banks of the Loire River would do. The crockery, known as faience, was as much a discreet symbol of prestige and good taste in an aristocratic family as having “de” before a last name or a signet ring with the family crest passed down to a son when he turned 18.
The LA Times photographer took some great factory photos:
Before Prada, Dom Pèrignon and Mercedes-Benz, there was Meissen — the porcelain mark with the distinctive crossed blue swords, perhaps Europe’s oldest luxury brand.
Visiting Meissen and Dresden on a porcelain tour was the subject of a wonderful travel article in this past weekend’s Wall Street Journal saturday section. In preparation for the company’s 300th anniversary in 2010, Meissen has updated and re-vamped their store in Dresden and their visitor facilities in Meissen. The article discusses the incredible Swan Service, originally created in 1737 for Augustus the Strong’s PM (and still available) and also the classic and ever-popular Blue Onion (also of course still available). Of interest to anybody visiting Germany in the next month is that April 19th will be Meissen’s annual Open Day, when the general public can see the entire factory premises and see the artists at work. On March, 14th, a 300th Anniversary exhibition opened at the Meissen museum on the history of porcelain; among many other things being exhibited, the museum is displaying the innovative ceramic brakes of a Porsche 911 GT2 from 2001; I assume they will also be displaying a figurine or two.