Image 0102-044-01-01
Used between 1899 and 1918, on items with "Japonais" decoration.
The porcelain decoration studio of Joseph Rieber in Selb was founded 1868. Its speciality was a decoration named Japonais, a decoration style influenced strongly by Japanese originals. It was highly successful as it presented a counterpart to many other companies which merely concentrated on Zwiebelmuster ("Blue Onion") or Strohblume ("Strawflower") designs. Full order books allowed Rieber to quickly expand, employing more and more skilled decorators. Eventually, business had developed so well that Rieber had trouble finding enough suitable whiteware. He therefore decided to open an own porcelain factory to serve his needs even if he had to secure additional funding first.
After finding financial backers for the cause and restructuring his business accordingly, Rieber went ahead an purchased the Julius Rother & Co. factory in the town of Mitterteich. He ensured smooth progression by keeping many of the former workers, at the same time ensuring that all workers were treated equal as to avoid tension in the workforce.
This was in 1923 followed by another subsidiary in the town of Thiersheim. Note that for that reason not all marks used by Rieber are listed here, please make sure you also check the Mitterteich entry.
From then on the company included the full name of Porzellanfabriken Josef Rieber & Co. AG Selb-Thiersheim-Mitterteich on their company paper even if all three parts were run independently. The Mitterteich factory mainly produced normal household items and dinner sets.
This success lead to further export contracts with customers in Norway and Sweden; in 1930 the number of employees peaked at 200 in Mitterteich and at a total of 150 for both Selb and Thiersheim together. However the rigid internal company structure had its drawbacks and over the years even intensive expansion was not able to help the company cope with demand. This situation finally resulted in a sudden drop in business and in 1971 the company had to file for bankruptcy.
A note on the mark depicting the initials "IR" instead of "JR" for Joseph Rieber: in older German lettering, upper case "I" and "J"were the same letter. There was no difficulty in distinguishing the letters in use because "I" only appeared before a consonant and "J" only before a vowel.
Image 0102-044-01-01
Used between 1899 and 1918, on items with "Japonais" decoration.
Image 0102-044-01-01
Used around 1910. A stylized "IR" overglaze decoration mark, mostly found in gold.
Image 0102-044-01-03
Used between 1918 and 1923 in Selb only, note the "JR Co." for Joseph Rieber & Co. OHG in the center oval.
Image 0102-044-01-04
Used between 1918 and 1923 in Selb only. Example of previous mark but with the Gesetzlich geschützt addition.
Image 0102-044-01-05
Used around 1930 in Selb only, simple "JR" initials for Joseph Rieber.
Image 0102-044-03-01
Used between 1953 and around 1971 in all factories, note the "R AG" for Rieber AG in the center oval.
© 2004-2026 C.S.Marshall, all rights reserved