170 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
THE COLLECTOR 
FORTUNES IN CHINA 
The Rothschilds, the Queen and Lord Dudley own 
between them most of the finest Sevres ware in England. 
The most famous of Lord Dudley's Sevres is a garniture 
de cheminee for which he gave $50,000, and it is said that a 
housemaid broke one of the pieces the day after its arrival at 
Dudley house. Lord Dudley a few years ago had a sale of 
some of his porcelains. 
The collection of Pompadour and Dubarry Sevres, as it is 
sometimes styled, in the possession of Queen Victoiia has 
been valued by experts at much over a quarter of a million 
dollars. And yet there are only a small number of pieces; 
these are displayed at Windsor Castle in the long gallery, 
where her Majesty usually receives her guests before dinner. 
One and one-half million dollars is said to be the value of the 
Queen's porcelain. 
The value of old Sevres porcelain is enhanced by the 
fact that ever since the foundation of the factory an exact 
register has been kept of all sales. Probably the most exten- 
sive sale ever made was that in 1778, to the Empress Catharine 
of Russia, who paid for a service of 754 pieces a sum of $80,000, 
which is equivalent to about $200,000 at the present day. 
One hundred and sixty pieces of this service were stolen during 
a conflagration of the palace and found their way to England, 
where they were purchased by the famous collector Beckford. 
But with few exceptions they were repurchased by the Em- 
peror Nicholas and conveyed back to Russia just before the 
outbreak of the Crimean war. 
Prices that appear absolutely preposterous are given for 
Sevres china of the "Pompadour period," which dates from 
1753 to 1763 ; for that of the " Louis XV. period," which dates 
from 1763 to 1786, and for that of the Louis XVI. epoch," 
dating from 1786 to 1790. 
It is nothing — $500 or $1,000 apiece for a Sevres cup and 
saucer, or a small pail, or a plate — that is, nothing to a Roths- 
child or to royalty. 
The finest collection of Sevres in America belonged to 
Gov. Lyon of Idaho; it was sold at his death, and one vase 
was purchased by Mrs. Ayres of New York, for $5,000. 
A New York woman, Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, has some 
Sevres plates similar to the famous Chateau plates at Fon- 
tainebleau. She has, also some delightful examples of the old 
English ware Spode, which was only made at first for royal 
and ducal families, and was a great luxury. Cabbage roses is 
a favorite pattern of the Spode ware, or some "set" pattern 
of deep blue. Mrs. Dodge has a tete-a-tete tea service of 
Spode decorated with the cabbage roses. She has some Nyon 
cups and saucers — this ware is marked with a fish, because the 
factory is situated on Lake Geneva. 
Mrs. Alfred Duane Pell is a collector of fine china, and 
several specimens of St. Petersburg ware are treasured by her. 
This is the only European factory which never sells a piece of 
china, as everything manufactured is reserved by the Czar and 
Czarina for royal presents. It was founded by the Empress 
Catharine. Some of Mrs. Pell's Russian porcelain is of a late 
date, notably a plate made in 188 1. Other treasures are 
copies of the Prince of Wales's Minton service, in use on his 
royal yacht Osborne. They bear naval designs and the three 
feathers and motto. Mrs. Pell also has copies in Minton of 
Queen Victoria's Buckingham Palace service The decorations 
are the rose, shamrock and thistle; a crown and the initials 
V. R. within a wreath of roses. Many multi-millionares prize 
Minton ware to the extent of paying $2,729 apiece for plates. 
A plate of plain gold costs just about as much. For $136.50 
one can buy a Crown Derby plate which will answer every day 
purposes. 
Mrs, Bradley Martin eats her Monday dinners from plates 
costing somewhere about $175 each; of course she has better 
porcelain than this; indeed, she possesses a large cabinet of 
china of great historical value. 
Mrs. Pierpont Morgan's choice is for Chinese porcelains, 
which are not to be compared with any others, so beautiful arc 
they, so their admirers claim. They are as thin as paper, as 
brilliant as a mirror and as sonorous as metal. Mrs. Morgan 
has many examples of that most popular of patterns — the one 
we can all talk glibly about — the willow pattern. This is on 
what is called Turner's Caughley porcelain. The romantic 
story is always a favorite, of the cruel father who lived in a 
pagoda; the armed knight, the maiden fair, an elopement, a 
stern parent in pursuit, and finally peace, plenty and happy 
days under a blue tree on the other side of the plate. 
" Royal " was bestowed upon the Worcester porcelains 
when Queen Charlotte, on her visit to the factory with George 
III, ordered a service; the pattern, by the way, for this par- 
ticular service was a lily. Mrs. William Astor's favorite por- 
celain is Worcester ware. 
Apropos of the terms porcelain and china: The latter is 
only "shopping" English, and when you become a collector 
and can talk intelligently on the subject, you forswear china 
and say porcelain altogether and all the time. It is more 
artistic and aesthetic. 
Of Dresden ware, Mrs. Joseph Drexel has a fine collec- 
tion, including many specimens of the Marcolini period — 
about 1796. Chocolate pots of different shapes are among 
the choice bits of the collection. 
Mrs. Levi P. Morton is said to have one of the most ex- 
pensive dinner services of Dresden in this country. 
Roses and forget-me-nots are the usual Dresden patterns. 
The mark is two crossed swords in blue. 
There are but four places in the world where one can be 
perfectly safe from deception in buying Dresden porcelain; 
these are: the salesroom connected with the factory, the royal 
porcelain depots in Leipsic and in Dresden, and a small shop, 
also in Dresden, which is permitted to keep defective pieces 
for sale. Once a year there is an auction somewhere in Sax- 
ony where defective specimens — "schnitz" — can be procured. 
In all, five places, where you are sure of what you are pur- 
chasing. 
In regard to the White House china; that ordered by 
Mrs. Hayes in 1879 was tne m ost elaborate and expensive, 
costing $15,000, which was paid by the Government. A few 
duplicate sets were made of this china. During Lincoln's 
time two sets of china were made for the White House. 
Sixty-one pieces of one service now belong to Mrs. Dickins. 
Pieces of both sets have been scattered among public and pri. 
vate collectors throughout this country and Europe. — Chicago 
Record. 
