Customer Reviews

Haviland China: The Age of Elegance (Schiffer Book for Collectors With Values)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Haviland China, one of the most collected Limoges producing companies, comes to life in this very informative book. Not only does Ms. Travis includes a Haviland family tree in this book, but also a history of this wonderful family legacy.

Beautiful color photographs enable us to enjoy some of the very rare pieces produced beginning in 1895. The price guide for these pieces are right on the money, and the signature guide makes piece identification easy!

As a serious Haviland collector, I never go to an antique store or show without it!

Nora Travis' book includes photographs of the usual and unusual pieces of Haviland porcelain which makes it a well rounded book for the amateur and serious collectors. It contains many beautiful "art" pieces, and the values are right on target. A lot of work went into this book, and it shows. The photos are really great as well. We, Keith and Thomas Waterbrook-Clyde, are the authors of a book on Limoges porcelain, The Decorative Art of Limoges Porcelain and Boxes.

I don't consider myself a collector of Haviland; I bought this book to get a toehold in this world while searching for replacements for my mother's turn-of-the-century pattern.

This book is organized in such a way that someone new to this area can understand the basics types of pieces, identify the various markings and get some idea of reasonable values. Did I mention that it also looks good on the coffee table?

While the written information contained within is remarkable in its' breadth and detail, and the publication certainly has a good "hand" on the current market, the publication fails sadly in its' photographic quality.

Certain patterns colours are corrupted in the printing process. A notable example of this is on page 181, Figure 390 "Dinner Plate Chambord Pattern". This plate in fact has a soft green tinge to the entire plate and the edge is a teal / blue. It is not a red pinkish colour, which is how it is represented.

This is a significant misrepresentation of the appearance of the article and there are a series of errors in the publication of a similar calibre, and it reflects badly on what is fundamentally a good publication.

Nora Travis is one of the leading experts on Haviland. I love the quality of her books, and have found the photographs professional, and the content informative and interesting. While researching my book: LIVING WITH LIMOGES by Debby DuBay, I again sought out Nora Travis' work for information on Haviland Limoges. She is an expert in the field of Haviland and I recommend this book to all who need information on the subject or for those who enjoy beautiful coffee table books.