Q: How do I find replacement pieces for an inherited set of Limoges Haviland? I have the Schleiger number but can't find pieces. I'm beginning to think it was the only set made with that pattern. I also need replacement Fostoria stemware. Where do I look?
- Jan, Tucson
A: I'll bet some readers are wondering, "Huh? Is it by Limoges or Haviland?"
Well, that's one of those quirks that make collecting endlessly fascinating. Back when setting a good table mattered, many factories turned out boatloads (literally) of blanks.
Limoges blanks were prized canvases for china painters. To this day, French Limoges pieces decorated long ago by a factory artist bring highest prices. Their work was limited to studio pieces, much as glass artists today produce studio art glass.
But demand was so great that factory studios could not handle demand. So one company produced white ware or blanks, and another decorated. Hence, Limoges (blanks) produced for Haviland (decoration).
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In Haviland china, the Schleiger number is an identifier to myriad and confusing patterns from the maker.
Produced by Arlene Schleiger of Omaha, Neb., who inherited a lot of Haviland and had trouble differentiating patterns, the system, developed in the 1940s and '50s, is a visual reference of pen and ink drawings showing details of each pattern. Haviland marks and patterns are often confusing, so Schleiger numbers linked to specific designs make identification much easier.
Since it has a Schleiger number, there is no way our reader's Haviland is one of a kind.
Lisa Conklin of Replacements.com told us that the giant china, glassware and flatware replacement service has about 10,000 pieces with Schleiger numbers in its database. It doesn't have current inventory of the reader's number, but the service can contact her when it does. To receive such a notice, register with the "Find This for Me" link on the Web site. Replacements has inventory of her Fostoria stemware.
You also can search www. setyourtable.com for replacement specialists in Fostoria and Haviland. The pieces are out there. The key is knowing how to hunt smart.
Q: Any information on my Limoges platter stamped New York Central Line?
- Deborah, Petersburg, Va.
A: Back when traveling by train was an event, the dining car was a place for starched linens and fine china. Utilitarian china was the rule, but premier lines used fine china such as Limoges.
Railroad china is avidly sought by collectors; most zero in on specific lines or routes. The umbrella term for collecting train items is railroadiana.
Meg Coughlin, an officer of the Railroadiana Collectors Association Inc., specializes, with her husband, Tom, in railroad collecting, including china.
She identified the reader's small platter decorated with pink chrysanthemums as "Hyde Park," a pattern made for the New York Central Railroad by Limoges in France. GDA backstamps indicate that it was made by Gerard, Dufraisseix and Abbot sometime after 1941.
Coughlin said Hyde Park pieces retail in the $50 to $125 range, depending on rarity and condition. We found a 4-by-5-inch vegetable side dish in the pattern for sale online at $150.
Danielle Arnet welcomes questions from readers. She cannot respond to each one individually but will answer those of general interest in her column. Send e-mails to smartcollector@comcast.net or write Danielle Arnet, c/o Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611. Please include an address. Photos will not be returned.