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Schwarza

[1] Porzellanfabrik E.&A. Müller (1890 until 1907)

Eduard Müller (*1855-05-31 in Lauscha; † ~ 1911/12), full name Carl Louis Christian Eduard Müller, was the son of a glassworks factory owner. He visited the secondary school in Saalfeld between 1869 and 1873, followed by a commercial education which he successfully finished in 1874. Müller joined the army, albeit only for a year, then started to work as an accountant (1877 until 1882) before becoming director of the factory owned by the US-based New York and Rudolstadt Pottery Co. Inc., the Porzellanfabrik Rudolstadt Straus & Söhne AG in Rudolstadt.

In 1890 Eduard decided to establish an own factory in Schwarza together with August Müller who is often claimed to have been his younger brother. At that time he also started to work with and for the local Chamber of Commerce, later becoming a member of the city council and receiving the title of Kommerzienrat before becoming a politician for the Nationalliberalen Partei (NLP). I could not find an exact date of his death, in fact even the corresponding year varies between 1911 and 1912 depending on source.

The factory in Schwarza had become specialized on figures but became more and more interested in fine china, production of which required a slightly different mix of resources. A subsidiary in the Bavarian town of Schönwald was therefore established in 1904 and after a short but very successful period the business was in 1907 transformed into a corporation.

[2] Porzellanfabrik E.&A. Müller AG (1907 until 1927)

There is no further information available other than that they produced luxury porcelain and had about 200 workers in 1913. Examples of artists working for the factory would include Karl Eichhorn from Volkstedt (around 1924) and sculptor Edmund Meusel from Coburg. The company was taken over by the Porzellanfabrik Schönwald AG in 1927, shortly before that company itself was acquired by the Porzellanfabrik Kahla. Nonetheless, the factory in Schwarza remained a subsidiary of the Schönwald AG and still employed 75 workers in the year 1930 before finally closing down around 1938.

Comment(s)

There are various claims that E.&A. Müller were "descendants" of Johann Nikol Müller from Schönwald (Bavaria); this however is not the case. Johann Müller had two sons, both of which succeeded him as proprietors of the Schönwald business. The family name likeness was pure coincidental.
The often claimed location name of "Schwarza-Saalbahn" is also incorrect as there is no such place. Business was located in the small and fairly unknown town of Schwarza, far more prominent was the fairly new railroad which connected Naumburg, Jena and Saalfeld since 1874. That railroad was named "Saalbahn", as in "railroad down to the river Saale", and had received much newspaper coverage during its construction as it promised an econmic upturn for the whole region. Newspapers therefore literally spoke of "Schwarza (an der Saalbahn)" or "Schwarza (Saalbahn)" as to aid recognition, this was later incorrectly adapted as "Schwarza-Saalbahn".
The mark color is irrelevant and does not indicate grades of quality or influence dating. Earliest pieces only included the stylized "M" (1890-1895), from 1895 onward this was paired with the crowned shield including the initials "V" and "S" (Schwarza borders on the nearby town of Volkstedt). The "Corona" mark is often found together with the previous mark but was also used as stand-alone base marking. Later marks included a capital "A" above "Müller", introduced after Eduard Müller's death in 1912.