Coffee Set – Manufacture Robert Haviland & Aux Lions de Faïence – Limoges and Paris, c. 1930

Very fine coffee set in Limoges porcelain, manufactured by Manufacture Robert Haviland and marketed in Paris by the retailer Aux Lions de Faïence, located at 90 rue de Rivoli.

The set comprises a lidded coffee pot, a lidded sugar bowl, and five cups with matching saucers.

The porcelain, distinguished by its luminous white colour and fine quality, is adorned with an elegant polychrome floral decoration. A frieze of scrolling motifs, foliage and small flowers runs around the pieces in a delicate palette, enhanced by fine gilt lines. The quality of the design and precision of the execution lend the set great delicacy.

The forms are particularly refined and represent one of the set’s principal attractions. The coffee pot and sugar bowl feature remarkably elaborate handles, whose relief and mouldings demonstrate the care invested in modelling the porcelain. Their undulating contours and carefully rendered details lend the pieces an almost sculptural quality. The sugar bowl is especially noteworthy, with its richly modelled twin handles and lid topped by an openwork finial. The coffee pot echoes this intricate relief work, with an elegantly shaped handle and a long spout highlighted with gilt accents.

The pieces bear two distinct marks, which are particularly interesting in establishing their history. The RH mark within a star corresponds to Manufacture Robert Haviland in Limoges. This mark was used between 1924 and 1941. The set also bears the commercial mark of the Parisian retailer Aux Lions de Faïence, a specialist in tableware established at 90 rue de Rivoli. The firm sold white porcelain sourced from manufacturers, which could subsequently be decorated by painters or decorators working for the retailer before being displayed in its Parisian shop windows.

The presence of both marks therefore helps trace the history of the set: porcelain manufactured in Limoges by Robert Haviland, then decorated and marketed in Paris by Aux Lions de Faïence.

The period during which the RH mark was used, from 1924 to 1941, combined with the activity of the Parisian retailer, suggests that the set was most likely manufactured and decorated during the 1930s.

This dual provenance, combining Limoges porcelain craftsmanship with Parisian commercial and decorative expertise, adds historical interest to the set. The delicacy of the decoration, together with the particularly elaborate modelling of the handles, gives it considerable decorative appeal.