Germany / Thuringia / Mäbendorf bei Suhl:
The small town of 'Mäbendorf bei Suhl' (Mäbendorf near Suhl) has long become a part of Suhl, hence it is today called 'Suhl-Mäbendorf'.
What has really confused collectors and dealers for quite some time is the fact that there were so many 'Schlegelmilch' factories. Although the different firm owners had the same surname, they represented the production efforts of two distinctly un-related families. These facts have been known since 1984, the year that Bernd Hartwich published his results after intensive research on the matter. But this information was not available in America until the English translation was published in the U.S.A. in 1993. The historical research by Ron Capers shows there was no blood relationship between Leonhard and Reinhold.
The facts are actually quite simple. The first factory was owned by Reinhold and the other factory was owned by Leonhard, who had named his firm after his father, Erdmann. These two operations were in direct competition with each other. The factory owned by Reinhold was subsequently run with his two sons, Ehrhard and Arnold. The latter took over an existing porcelain factory in Tillowitz in 1894, and continued to run it as part of the Reinhold Schlegelmilch enterprise until he died in 1934.
The firm owned by Leonhard was later on led by Oscar, Julius Martin, and Carl. Carl opened his own factory in 1882 and Oscar started his own factory in Langenwiesen during 1892. Julius Martin eventually took over the ownership of the Erdmann factory in 1899 after Leonhard died.
[1] : Porzellanfabrik Carl Schlegelmilch (1882 until 1918)
After learning the trade at the Erdmann Schlegelmilch factory belonging to his father Leonhard, Carl Schlegelmilch decided to open up his own factory and produced many high quality pieces that do not have to fear comparison with items from other Schlegelmilch facilities even if his works were not produced in such large numbers and are not as well known even if his main market was the export to North America. Carl finally sold the factory during the last months of 1918 and retired.
[2] : Porzellanfabrik Matthes & Ebel (1919 until 1935)
The new owner of the factory was the company of 'Matthes & Ebel' which continued to produce transferware almost exclusivey for export under the direction of Emil Ebel. During the next years all went well until Matthes suddenly broke partnership with Ebel in 1929 who was forced to sell the factory to the brothers Max and Josef Heim. The brothers did not only keep the company name but also employed Ebel as manager but the factory had lived on Matthes and his visions and so the company started to lose vital customers. After an avoided liquidation in 1932 the factory was finally closed in 1935.
Marks
Copyright © 2004-2010 Porcelain Marks & More. All rights reserved.