Haviland

Haviland traces to 1838, when David Haviland, an American importer of earthenware and porcelain based in New York, began sourcing Limoges porcelain. Drawn to its whiteness and refinement, he relocated to Limoges, France and founded his own manufacture there in 1842 — reportedly the first time an American had set up a factory in Europe for this kind of production. Haviland was unusual for the period in combining both the manufacture of whiteware and its decoration under one roof, and he opened a school for decorators in Limoges, producing patterns aimed partly at American taste.

The house's best-documented institutional commissions are two White House services: a purple-bordered ('Solferino') hard-paste service supplied in 1861 during Abraham Lincoln's administration, and a service made in 1879 for President Rutherford B. Hayes featuring flora-and-fauna illustrations by Harper's Weekly artist Theodore Davis. Haviland porcelain has also furnished the Hotel Ritz Paris on Place Vendome since the hotel's 1898 opening. The Haviland name has passed through several corporate configurations since the founding family's original involvement, and the brand continues to manufacture and sell Limoges porcelain from Limoges today.