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Herend: Luxury China and Collectible Beauty

These Herend bells, above at left, sell for $95. With their showy elegance, they are perfect to display at Christmastime or give as gifts. Herend porcelain treasures also include these dinnerware sets. at left, and animal figurines, above. The Hungarian company is the world’s largest manufacturer of porcelain and is treasured by royalty worldwide. Photos Provided

Every Christmas season, I receive a Scully and Scully catalog featuring Herend’s hand-painted porcelain treasures, but I’ve never researched or even seen many of these collectibles first hand, so I thought I’d explore.

Herend is named after the town where the Hungarian manufacturer of porcelain renown is located, which is near the bigger city of Veszprem. Founded in 1826, Herend is known for its gilded creations and fine dinnerware.

The animal figurines are especially easy to identify from the particular manner in which they are painted with the famous fishnet design. According to Herend.com, this pattern developed in 1858 when one of the porcelain painters was inspired by a fishscale design he saw on a Chinese porcelain plate. He then painted a similar pattern onto a rooster figurine to imitate feathers.

This is the pattern that I was familiar with, but after exploring the company website and visiting West Virginia’s only authorized dealer, the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, I realize that Herend is known for much more. It is a storied creator of beautiful treasures and the world’s largest manufacturer of porcelain.

I didn’t realize the dinnerware is used by many royal families beginning with Queen Victoria who ordered a china set with a Chinese-style butterfly and floral pattern, now known as the Victoria pattern. Today, this luxury dinnerware is used by royals, celebrities and dignitaries all over the world.

Princess Diana, too, enjoyed collecting Herend figurines and Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, has a dining set that was a wedding gift from Herend. And during the 19th century, Herend was the official purveyor to the Hapsburg Dynasty in Austria.

Made of a durable hard paste porcelain body, I was amazed to read that the new dinnerware is dishwasher safe! Though at the prices it retails for (a dinner plate might cost $400 or more), I’d hesitate to load it into my dishwasher.

Herend has gone through several managers but remains true to its original vision of making excellent quality porcelain measured by international standards, with a wide inventory of dinnerware, figurines, children’s dishes and gift items.

It seems that the lovely porcelain is still a strong gift item and offers modern shoppers a chance to own a bit of real luxury at a variety of price points. For example, the holiday bell with its green and red bows sell for $95 this year. With its showy elegance, it is perfect to display for status impact.

There also is a museum of porcelain at the company’s site in Hungary for avid fans that might travel and want to explore all the details of its history. After doing just this little bit of research that I’ve done for my column today, I have lots more respect for this precious collectible and now understand a bit more about its value.

Beware of shopping online or at any place that is not an authorized dealer. Apparently, as with so many collectibles, cheap imitations and counterfeit backstamps abound. More information can be found on the Herend website.

For comments or suggestions on local treasures to be featured in Antique of the Week, Maureen Zambito can be reached via email at: zambitomaureen@hotmail .com or by writing in care of this newspaper.

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