Dear Helaine and Joe: Years ago, my husband received this rose-patterned china set as a gift. It has been sitting around for more than 40 years, and we have decided to sell it because we are never going to use it. The pieces are marked "Johann Haviland Bavaria Germany Chippendale." I have a service for 12, including dinner and salad plates, soup bowls, cups and saucers, plus sugar bowl, creamer, gravy boat, two serving platters and two serving bowls. What is the value of this china set? — P.V., e-mail
Dear P.V.: We have explored this subject before, but we are going to revisit it because we get so much mail about "old" sets of china, particularly sets of Limoges and Haviland china. We want to address this kind of object in particular because the word in the trade is that prices on this kind of ware have taken a dramatic nose-dive in value.
The name "Haviland" is legendary in the dinnerware trade, but most of the enterprises with this moniker were located in and around the French town of Limoges. However, Jean Haviland founded "Johann Haviland" in Waldershof, Germany, in 1907; he was the son of Charles Edward Haviland and the grandson of David Haviland, the founder of the French company in Limoges.
Jean changed his name to John or Johann when he opened the Bavarian business, and the company remained under that title until 1924. At that point, it shut down and the Italian manufacturer Richard-Ginori purchased the name "Johann Haviland." For a time, it was known as "Porzellanfabrik Waldershof AG, formerly Johann Haviland."
Then in 1936, Rosenthal AG in Selb, Germany, acquired this company. The particular dinnerware set in today's question was manufactured after this acquisition, and the mark supplied by P.V. first saw the light of day in 1966 and remained in use until the late 1980s. Therefore, this set is not an antique and was relatively new when given to P.V.'s husband some 40 years ago.
The pattern name on the pieces is "Chippendale," and we thought running this down would be easy. But it turned out to be more difficult than we had originally supposed. "Chippendale" is a plain pattern with no decoration, but the term actually describes the shape of the dishes in today's question. The pattern name of this set is "Wild Rose."
With regard to insurance-replacement values, the dinner plates in this design are each worth $18 to $20; the salad plates, about $10 each; the soup bowls about the same ($10); cups and saucers about $25 each; the vegetable serving bowls (oval) $50 to $60 each; and the platters $20 to $25 for the 13-inch size and $60 to $70 for the 14-3/4-inch size.
As a service for 12, this adds up to a considerable amount of money, but there is absolutely no way that P.V. can sell this dinnerware for more than a fraction of this amount. The word is that sets of Limoges and/or Haviland china, which in the recent past sold at auction for $400 to $600, are now bringing $200 or less.
We have been told that pink-rose patterns are particularly in disfavor, and that describes this set exactly. If P.V. wants to sell, she might advertise in her local newspaper for someone who is willing to pay a little more money than could be gained at auction.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Contact them at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928. E-mail them at treasures@knology.net.) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com)