China and Dinnerware

European manufacturers attempted to make hard-paste porcelain in response to the demand, and began successfully competing with Chinese porcelain during the 18th century. France became the leading manufacturer of soft-paste porcelain, and the German Meissen factory perfected European hard-paste porcelain.

Meanwhile, England began producing bone china in large quantities, lead by Josiah Spode. However, due to its high cost, porcelain was still restricted predominantly to the upper-class and royalty (hence manufacturer names like Royal Copenhagen and Royal Doulton) until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Although technical advances made porcelain available to a wider range of people during the 19th century, earthenware (baked clay) and stoneware (clay fired at an intense heat to make it nonporous) continued to be popular for dinnerware items.

Mass-production of china and dinnerware began in the late 19th century, with a corresponding decline in the quality of craftsmanship and materials. Fine porcelain dinnerware was more commonly used for decoration than to hold food. (In addition to dinnerware, prominent makers also created ornamental figurines featuring people and animals.) By the 20th century, colorful functional designs – such as Franciscan and Fiesta – were in high demand.

Collectors today have access to a wide variety of antique and vintage china and dinnerware. In this section we provide a sampling of some of the major makers, styles and regions, including British (Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, Spode, Wedgwood, Royal Worcester, Johnson Brothers), Japanese (Noritake), German (Meissen), French (Limoges, Haviland), Danish (Royal Copenhagen), and American (stoneware, Fiesta, Franciscan, Lenox, Red Wing).

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