Porcelain produced at the “Herend” manufactory is known all over the world. Among its admirers are royalty and the wealthiest people in the world.
And it all began in 1826, when a porcelain factory of the same name opened in the small village of Herend, 130 km from Budapest. At first, craftsmen were approached to glue together a broken cup from a favorite tea set or to make an identical new one. In some places the pattern had worn off, in others the edge had chipped, and so on.
The craftsmen’s work proved to be so precise and elegant that soon people began ordering entire sets of tableware from them. For wealthy gentlemen, the workers of «Herend» even started developing their own family patterns. This is how the service with butterflies and Chinese peonies appeared, which was made in 1851 especially for Queen Victoria. Later it began to be called by her name. And for the Rothschild family, the craftsmen created a service with birds which, according to family legend, once helped the baroness find her lost necklace.
At the end of the 19th century, the «Herend» manufactory received the title of official supplier to the royal court. Among the crowned heads who ordered services here were Russian emperors as well: Alexander II and Nicholas II. These porcelain masterpieces can still be purchased today, but needless to say, the cost of such “souvenirs” tends toward infinity.
