LA PORCELAINE DE HEREND HEREND PORCELAIN

16 The original version of the small ornamental vase with
a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, and
today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. The
gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase s
shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting
green- and red-scaled dragons appear amongst
turquoise and green clouds; the back and the front
panels have two larger paintings each representing
the life of Chinese aristocracyThe original version of
the small ornamental vase with a lid glittering as a
jewel was made in 1856, and today it is kept in the
Museum of Applied Arts. The gilded handle of the
richly coloured lid of the vase s shaped like a Lion of
Fo. Underneath it, fighting green- and red-scaled
dragons appear amongst turquoise and green clouds;
the back and the front panels have two larger paintings
each representing the life of Chinese aristocracyvThe
original version of the small ornamental vase
with a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, and
today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. The
gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase s
shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting
green- and red-scaled dragons appear amongst
turquoise and green clouds; the back and the front
panels have two larger paintings each representing
the life of Chinese aristocracyThe original version of
the small ornamental vase with a lid glittering as a
jewel was made in 1856, and today it is kept in the
Museum of Applied Arts. The gilded handle of the
richly coloured lid of the vase s shaped like a Lion of
Fo. Underneath it, fighting green- and red-scaled
dragons appear amongst turquoise and green clouds;
the back and the front panels have two larger paintings
each representing the life of Chinese aristocracyThe
original version of the small ornamental vase
with a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, and
today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. The
gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase s
shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting
green- and red-scaled dragons appear amongst
turquoise and green clouds; the back and the front
panels have two larger paintings each representing
the life of Chinese aristocracy haped like a Lion of Fo.
Underneath it, fighting green- and red-scaled dragons
appear amongst turquoise and green clouds; the back
and the front panels have two larger paintings each
representing the life of Chinese aristocracy
and maintaining the factory. The narrative presents the
factory as a family enterprise from the start, but under
the absolute direction of their father, Mór Fischer.
Another memoir by Dr. Hugo Farkasházy, son of Géza
Fischer, relates the activities of the seven Fischer bro -
thers in relation to the factory. The eldest, Leó, graduated
from the technical university in Vienna and
represented the factory in London and Paris. Dezsô was
involved in the financial direction of the factory, while
Samuel represented Herend’s interests in Vienna, and
Géza, with his technical knowledge, supervised the
preparation of glazes and paints as well as the firing of
the goods. The fifth brother, Zsigmond, oversaw the
purchase of materials and records of the workers and
their jobs. The sixth brother, Vilmos, was in charge of
porcelain and gold painting, while the youngest brother,
Béla, was a specialist in enamel painting and the production
of new paint materials.
Years of stifled anger over the factory’s 1874 bankruptcy
came to the surface as the younger generation challen -
ged their father, and differences in commercial interests
among family members became clear. The aging Fischer
brothers had many children and had invested their wives’
dowries in the factory. Now they were having increasing
difficulties in living off their incomes and they wished to
see Herend increase its profitability. After the factory was
relieved from its bankruptcy in 1876, Samuel took over
directorship.
The porcelain factory continued to produce its cus tomary
artistic hand-painted porcelain. It introduced new pro -
ducts such as works modelled after Neo-Rococo forms
with decoration on a cobalt-blue ground in the style of
Sevres, and even still-lifes by François Boucher were
readily reproduced on Herend vases. Another innovation
was the gold-brocade surface decoration.
Although Herend’s exhibit at the Philadelphia World’s
Fair in 1876 was a success, the next few years proved
difficult. The greatest struggles arose in the manufacture
of whiteware, as suggested by the factory’s purchase of
unpainted porcelain from Bohemia, which it painted with
its own patterns. The Czech manufacturer’s mark was
sanded off and replaced by Herend’s own. A report made
in the 1880s register’s the gravity of the situation as
it urgently “calls upon the high government to save this
old company, a jewel of Hungarian industry.” In 1885
Herend was nationalized and at the same time the
Herend Porcelain Factory Corporation was established
with the aid of Count Pál Széchenyi, the minister of agriculture,
industry and commerce, and his state secretary.
Hungarian aristocrats also made contributions and the
state gave a loan amounting to 150,000 forints. Ferenc
Hippman was called from Bohemia to run the company.
His new methods – for example paying the porcelainpainters
not per item but per day – brought the company
to the brink of financial ruin again. His successor and
compatriot, Gruss, was then followed by a well-known,
experienced Hungarian ceramics-making expert, János
Örley. Örley, however, wanted to introduce stone ware
The original version of the small ornamental vase with
a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, and
today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. The
gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase s
shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting
green- and red-scaled dragons appear amongst
turquoise and green clouds; the back and the front
panels have two larger paintings each representing
the life of Chinese aristocracyThe original version of
the small ornamental vase with a lid glittering as a
jewel was made in 1856, and today it is kept in the
Museum of Applied Arts. The gilded handle of the
richly coloured lid of the vase s shaped like a Lion of
Fo. Underneath it, fighting green- and red-scaled
dragons appear amongst turquoise and green clouds;
the back and the front panels have two larger paintings
each representing the life of Chinese aristocracyThe
original version of the small ornamental vase
with a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, and
today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. The
gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase s
shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting
green- and red-scaled dragons appear amongst
turquoise and green clouds; the back and the front
panels have two larger paintings each representing
the life of Chinese aristocracyThe original version of
the small ornamental vase with a lid glittering as a
jewel was made in 1856, and today it is kept in the
Museum of Applied Arts. The gilded handle of the
richly coloured lid of the vase s shaped like a Lion of
Fo. Underneath it, fighting green- and red-scaled
dragons appear amongst turquoise and green clouds;
the back and the front panels have two larger paintings
each representing the life of Chinese aristocracyThe
original version of the small ornamental vase
with a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, and
today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. The
gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase s
shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting
green- and red-scaled dragons appear amongst
turquoise and green clouds; the back and the front
panels have two larger paintings each representing
the life of Chinese aristocracy panels have two larger
paintings each representing the life of Chinese aristocracyThe
original version of the small ornamental
vase with a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856,
and today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts.
The gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase
s shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting
production in place of Herend’s traditional hand-crafted
porcelain. These mass-produced toiletry sets, tea and
coffee services, ornamental pitchers and vases, all decorated
with transfer prints, could not compete even on the
Hungarian market.
In 1892, an attic at the Herend factory collapsed under
the weight of the raw quartz stored there, and production
ceased for a long period of time. Jenô Farkasházy
Fischer, the grandson of Mór Fischer, attempted to buy
the factory. In order to save their assets of 125,000
forints, however, the shareholders sold Herend to the
United Hungarian Glassware Companies instead, which
extended the demise of the company by two years, until
it finally shut its doors in 1896.
The turn of the century – the era of Jenô Farkasházy
Fischer (1896-1926)
Occasioned by the celebrations marking the 1000 th
anniversary of the Hungarian Conquest, intellectual and
artistic life in Hungary burgeoned. A national decorative
style appeared, increasing the country’s sense of national
awareness. These national motifs were born of archaeological
and ethnographic elements. The highly stylized
carnation, pomegranate and tulip decorations were
employed to create unique and valuable patterns, known
among the repertoire of Herend designs as Motifs Hongrois.
In 1893 Jenô Farkasházy Fischer 4 (1861-1926) offered
to buy the company, and in 1896 he was taken up on his
offer by the current owners who were unable to cope with
the job. Farkasházy, who was the artistic director of the
Ungvár Porcelain and Pottery Company at the time,
outlined his ideas in a detailed plan for the factory. Mór
Fischer’s grandson had studied ceramics at the Ecole des
Beaux Arts in Paris, and later expanded on his knowledge
in England and Germany. In his writing on art he
examined classic figures in the field of ceramics, such as
Bernard Palissy, 5 whom he wrote a monograph on in
1887. His attention was drawn to this French craftsman
perhaps because of a comment made by Jacob von Falke
that Mór Fischer was a modern-day Palissy. In another
important work Farkasházy explored the history of the
della Robbia family of Florence. 6 His studies, travels and
experience in the Ungvár factory provided him with the
necessary grounding to head the Herend factory; and
moreover, he had his father’s knowledge to rely on.
In April 1897, the stoves at Herend were re-lit, and the
factory resumed production of “classic” Herend goods.
One of the bigger commissions was the expansion of and
replacement of pieces from the various services be lon -
ging to the Buda Royal Palace. Completing the 1899
order required the cooperation of the painting workshop
in Ungvár and the Hüllt porcelain factory in Budapest.
By 1900, Farkasházy was already making pieces, although
not many, conceived in the new style, Art Nouveau.
He used special glazing techniques, such as a hot,
17