Herend
The Herend Porcelain Manufactory is a Hungarian manufacturing company, specializing in luxury hand-painted and gilded porcelain. Founded in 1826, it is based in the town of Herend near the city of Veszpr?m. In the mid-19th century, it was purveyor to the Habsburg dynasty and aristocratic customers throughout Europe
It is believed that the forerunner to Herend was founded by Vince Stingle in 1826. In 1839 M?r Fischer took over the management from Vince Stingle and the company excelled due to the excellent quality porcelain. In March 1843 the manufactory was hit by an arson attack and this was later portrayed on a porcelain plate.
In 1851 they attended the first World Exhibition in London where Queen Victoria ordered a china set with a butterfly and floral pattern, which was named after her and has become known as the Victoria pattern.
In 1874 M?r Fischer retired and handed the factory to his sons, but they didn?t have the same standards as their father and the factory soon filed for bankruptcy.
In 1884 the company formed under the name of Herend Porcelain Works Co and the state granted 12 years of tax exemption to the company and supported it with an interest free loan. In 1896 the state offered to sell the factory to M?r Fischer?s grandson, Jen?, who was a trained ceramist.
On 2nd March 1948 Herend was nationalized. In 1964 the Herend Porcelain Museum was opened to the public. In 1981 Herend became an independent company. In 1992 they restructured into a shareholding company, where 75% is owned by the employees.
