This service was made at the beginning of the 1970s. The imprint on the bottom (and stickers) tells by whom: Arzberg Hutschenreuther Gruppe Germany. The set is beautifully preserved and a wonderful gem because of the bright colors and nice design.

Arzberg is a German porcelain factory founded in 1887 in Arzberg (Bavaria, Germany). Hutschenreuther has owned the brand since 1972, a family business that was founded in 1814 in Hohenberg an der Eger, a few kilometers from Arzberg.

This set gave me the opportunity learn about materials. This tableware is special because it is earthenware, and not porcelain in which both family businesses specialized. What do these terms mean? First a step back. In general, we use the word ‘ceramics’ as a collective name for products made from fired clay. Three types are distinguished: earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. Earthenware is clay baked from 800 to 1200 degrees Celsius, stoneware between 1200 and 1280 and porcelain above 1400.

This coffee and tea set is glazed (earthenware, unlike porcelain, is not waterproof after baking) and the style is known as ‘Model 3000’. The set is particularly neat, only the teapot has some cosmetic irregularities in the glaze, see photo. The set consists of 1 coffee pot, 1 teapot, 4 small mugs, 6 coffee mugs for 4 saucers, 2 egg cups and 1 milk jug. For the text in this article I used Van Nieuwenhuizen’s publication on Aardewerk en porselein in the Antiek herkennen series (Utrecht/Antwerken, 1995).

€120