Germany / Bavaria / Arzberg:

[1] : Tonwarenfabrik Heinrich Schumann (1876 until 1879)

Originally from Angelroda (Thuringia) Heinrich Schumann had a small pottery in Arzberg that had to close because it was in the way of the railway which was finished in November 1879 and connected Arzberg with the railway network.

[2] : Porzellanfabrik Christoph Schumann (1881 until 1932)

The only son of Heinrich Schumann was Christoph Schumann who founded the new factory in 1881. It was located directly under the 'Jakobsburg' castle, next to the market square in the town center and ironically directly next to the railway tracks that had forced his father to close. With the opening of the new factory the company also started manufacturing their famous porcelain, at first inspired and managed by Christoph Schumann and from 1932 onwards under the leadership of his son Carl.

[3] : Porzellanfabrik Carl Schumann G.m.b.H. & Co. K.G., later A.G. (1932 until 1994)

The company was later transformed into a limited company, although there is no date recorded for this. But the best times for the factory were long over and various attempts to modernize the product range and find new customers failed. Problems with rentability forced the company to close in 1994.

It should be noted that Carl Schumann had quite interesting business relations with companies from U.S. and his factory was one of a few who produced items for Ebeling & Reuss which then were sold under the 'Erphila Germany' mark. Another little known fact is that the 'Carl Schumann Porzellanfabrik A.G.' was one of the few German companies allowed to produce Mickey Mouse figurines under license from Disney. They used a beautiful add created by 'Zereiss & Co.' to promote these porcelain products, featuring little Mickeys performing a traditional Bavarian dance. Most of these so-called 'un-aryan' products were destroyed during the Third Reich period from 1934 to 1945 and are therefore among the rarest European pre-war Disneyana collectibles.

The pictures marked with (Sharon Dickinson) are rescaled versions of pictures personally taken by Sharon Dickinson for her site www.efineantiques.com and are used here with kind permission. All rights reserved by Sharon Dickinson.

Marks

Image 2-01

Used from 1896.

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Used from 1897.

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Used after 1900.

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Used after 1900.

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Used between 1918 and 1929, 'BAVARIA, SCHUMANN', here shown in green.

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Used between 1918 and 1929, 'BAVARIA, SCHUMANN', here shown in gold.

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'BAVARIA, SCHUMANN' and stamped 'GERMANY', used between 1918 and 1929.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used between 1918 and 1929, 'BAVARIA, SCHUMANN' in different writing.

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'BAVARIA, SCHUMANN' in fancy writing, used between 1918 and 1929.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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'BAVARIA, SCHUMANN, DRESDENER ART', used between 1918 and 1929.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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'DRESDEN, SCHUMANN, BAVARIA', used between 1918 and 1929.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used between 1918 and 1929, here one with an ERPHILA mark.
(Picture by Bruce G. Hoffman)

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Used between 1918 and 1929, here in combination with the single 'SCHUMANN' crown and HANDMALEREI addition.

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Used between 1918 and 1929, single 'SCHUMANN' crown which was also used without 'SCHUMANN' or with 'BAVARIA' instead of 'GERMANY'.

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Used from 1932 onwards, also seen with additional 'GERMANY'.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used from 1932, this one shows the previously mentioned 'GERMANY' addition.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used from 1932.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used between 1932 and 1944.

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Used between 1932 and 1944.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Stamped 'BAVARIA', used between 1932 and 1944.

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Used around 1945, blue version.

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Used around 1945, near black version.

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Used around 1945.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used around 1945.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Gold over glaze, used around 1945.

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Used between 1946 and 1949, the writing 'GERMANY, US ZONE' on this piece was added later.

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Used between 1946 and 1949.

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Used between 1946 and 1949.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used between 1946 and 1949.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used between 1946 and 1949.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used between 1950 and 1960.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used between 1950 and 1960.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used from 1955.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used from 1955.
(Sharon Dickinson)

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Used from 1955.

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Used from 1955, golden version.

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Used between 1960 and 1970, this time in dark blue.

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Used between 1960 and 1970. Note that some versions do not show 'GERMANY'.

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Used between 1960 and 1970 for Cobalt decorated pieces.

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Used after 1981, commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the 'Christoph', later 'Carl Schumann' period. Note the early 'W.-GERMANY'.

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Used after 1981, same as before only with a plain 'GERMANY' again.

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Used after 1981, same as before, this time with numbers left and right of 'GERMANY'.

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Used after 1981,'SEIT 1881' over crown and shield over 'SCHUMANN' over 'GERMANY' over 'DIE MEISTERKLASSE', gold under glaze.

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Used after 1981, same as before only carrying the addition 'ORIGINAL SCHUMANN' over 'DURCHBRUCHPORZELLAN', gold under glaze.

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And finally a totally out-of-line mark only used on low-priced items for third parties.