Germany / Baden-Wuerttemberg / Zell am Harmersbach:

[1] : Zweite Zeller Steingut- und Porzellanfabrik (1859 until 1897)

The period before the founding of the second facility in the town of Zell am Harmersbach had seen a lot of changes as can be seen when viewing the history of the first facility opened here and which by now had become the Zeller Steingut- und Porzellanfabrik C. Schaaff. Expanding industry in the area lead to the founding of a second facility for stoneware products in 1859, directly at the town gate in the Biberach direction of town and as the older facility was located on higher ground, the new facility quickly became known as 'Lower Facility'. One of the partners of the new company was Georg Schmider, who eventually took over all shares in 1897.

[2] : Steingut- und Porzellanfabrik Georg Schmider (1897 until 1898)

Shortly after Schmidler took over the facility the well-known artist Elisabeth Schmidt-Pecht designed the 'Favorite' series for Schmider and continued to sporadically work for Schmider until 1914. Even if 'Favorite' was very successful indeed, it could not beat a design which evidently changed the whole industry in and around Zell am Harmersbach: the 'Hahn und Henne' (rooster and hen) decoration was created in 1898 by chief decorator Karl Schöner to commemorate the birth of his daughter and it became the most famous decoration style from the area - in fact, it is still the most used decoration style even today.

The success was overwhelming and Schmider had to drastically increase his production capacity to cover demand, so he took over the company of 'Schaible & Co.' (founded 1872), directly followed by Haager, Hoerth & Co. (founded 1818) in close succession during 1898 and renamed his company into the 'Vereinigte Zeller Fabriken', the 'united factories of Zell'.

[3] : Vereinigte Zeller Fabriken Georg Schmider (1898 until 1990)

In 1899, both the 'Upper' and 'Lower' facilities were slightly damaged by a massive fire that broke out in the middle of the town, only to be followed by another blaze in 1904. But Schmider was not put off easily as his products were a constant success and in 1907 he was finally able to take over the 'Upper Facility' from the Carl Schaaff company. Over time, items from Zell were exported to Africa, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Holland, France, India, Italy, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

Between 1907 and 1928 the company sold at least one series of decorated but unmarked plates to the decoration and export company 'Flambeau China Co.' in Limoges (France) who ordered items from a few German companies (like the Porzellanfabrik Moschendorf A.G.) and exported them to the US and Great Britain. It should be mentioned that many other German manufacturers also had contracts with French companies located in or around Limoges and the items sold were mostly not (re)decorated but left in their factory-decorated state, which says much about 'Limoges quality decorations' as many items actually were decorated in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg or Thuringia - the only French paint on the pieces was used for the hallmarks applied by the French distributors! The example for 'Vereinigte Zeller Fabriken' can be found in the following marks section.

The 'Favorite' and 'Rooster and Hen' series where just a start and backed by full order books, the facility reached its peak number of 500 employees in 1925. During this extremely successful period, Schmider had a helping hand in his son-in-law Heinrich Haiss. Young Mr. Haiss was everything Schmieder (who only had a daughter) could dream of. He was an intelligent businessman with the right feeling for the market and what impressed Schmider most was that instead of constantly explaining something again and again, Haiss would rather take off his jacket and show the people what he meant or how something should be done, which of course also earned him a lot of respect with the facility workers.

Germany / Baden-Wuerttemberg / Zell am Harmersbach:

[3] : Vereinigte Zeller Fabriken Georg Schmider (1898 until 1990)

It did not take long, and Schmider made Haiss director of the facility and left everything in his hands. Staying in the background for his last years, Schmider died in 1934. Haiss, wo later introduced his son Günter Haiss to the trade, successfully managed the following years and even the war years were extremely successfull, especially when taking in mind that production had to be stopped during 1942 because no raw materials could be aquired. 1942 also was the year in which it was decided to discontinue porcelain production generally and after restarting production in 1946, the facility only produced cheap single-colored pieces. Finally in 1963 the former Upper Facility was closed down and production completely taken over by the modernized Lower Facility.

[4] : Zeller Keramik G.m.b.H. (1990 until 1997)

Until 1988 the business was in the hands of Schmider and Haiss descendants and then nearly vanished, but in 1990 the business was taken over by the real estate company 'Herbert Hillebrand Baubetreuungs- und Grundbesitz K.G.'. Interestingly enough, the Hillebrand company also owned the facilities of Weimar Porzellan G.m.b.H. in Blankenhain and the Wallendorfer Porzellanmanufaktur G.m.b.H. in Wallendorf. But the so-called 'Hillebrand Group' went bankrupt and was broken up in 1994. The facility went through some hard times until the remaining 'Hillebrand K.G.' was able to re-structure the company.

[5] : Zeller Keramik Geschwister Hillebrand G.m.b.H. (1997 until today)

Since 1997, the business is known as 'Zeller Keramik Geschwister Hillebrand G.m.b.H.' and is fully operational. The Haiss manor today houses the porcelain museum and offers enough room for other art-related or historic displays.

Mark Comments:

It is often claimed that the initials 'S' and 'P' in some marks stand for 'Schmidt-Pecht' but as these initials can be found on products made in the former Haager, Hoerth & Co. factory and on items definately not designed by her; in fact a brochure released by the 'Vereinigte Zeller Fabriken' states that it simply stands for 'Steingut und Porzellan'.

Germany / Baden-Wuerttemberg / Zell am Harmersbach:

Marks

[2] : The first mark used by Schmider, registered at the R.W.Z.R. as number '25 970' on August 14th 1897.

[2] : Also introduced 1897 but apparently used up until 1925, 'G. SCHMIDER' over an eagle on a shield over 'ZELL A/H' over 'BADEN'.

[2] : Another example of the same mark, 'G. SCHMIDER' over an eagle on a shield over 'ZELL A/H' over 'BADEN'.

Vereinigte Zeller Fabriken Georg Schmider

Used around 1900, 'SCHWARZWALD' (the decoration style) over 'G. SCHMIDER' over 'ZELL A/H'.

Used between 1898 and 1928, registered at the R.W.Z.R. as number '32 440' on August 23rd 1898.

Used between 1898 and 1928, another example.

Used between 1907 and 1928, here a slightly different version for the 'Favorite' series.

Used between 1907 and 1928, stamped version with the addition 'GERMANY', registered at the R.ZW.Z.R. as number '104 648' on January 29th 1908.

Used between 1907 and 1928, here an example of the impressed version with the addition 'BADEN'.

As mentioned above, here is an example of a Zell piece (one from a set of six different plates)...

... with the Zell 'cup' mark and the number '2723L'.

Sorry that color and contrast are a bit off, but it is the same item as shown in the first example ....

... only this time with the Flambeau China Co. 'L.D.B.C.' mark and the number '2723L'.
(Pictures by Jean Rogan)

Registered at the R.W.Z.R. as number '402 739' on May 13th 1929.

Used from 1933 onwards, 'ZELL' over initials 'G' and 'S' over 'AM HARMERSBACH'.

Used from 1933 onwards, standard mark together with the decoration name 'GNOM' (Gnome).

Used from 1933 onwards, variation with the addition 'BADEN' over 'HANDGEMALT'.

Used from around 1970, standard mark together with the addition 'KURORT ZELL-HARMERSBACH' ('KURORT' is German for health resort or spa).

No date known, 'ZELL AM HARMERSBACH' surrounded by 'MADE IN GERMANY' and 'HAND PAINTED'.

Zeller Keramik Geschwister Hillebrand G.m.b.H.

Mark and company logo used today.