Parian porcelain is the world’s first mass-produced porcelain.
It is well over 150 years old, widely available in antiques shops, and like so many of the things you’ll find there, it has an interesting story.
A fierce battle raged in England and America for more than 70 years in the 19th Century.
On one side were the Classicist, proponents of the stately architectural designs of ancient Greco-Roman culture.
On the other side were the Gothicists, who favored the richly handcrafted ornamentation associated with the churches and castles of the Medieval Europe.
We can see evidence of that war right here in the city of Cape May.
Compare, for instance, the fancifully crafted gingerbread and pointed arches of the Abbey inn with the stately Grecian pediments and columns of the Peter Shields. It’s hard to believe that both are products of the Victorian Era.
Apparently, the Gothicist eventually won that war.
These days when people visualize Victorian design, they most like see its Gothic Revival, sometimes unkindly referred to as “haunted house Victorian,” but there were flashes of classical class throughout the period.
And for about 20 years, from the early 1840s in England to the late 1860s in America, the Classicists held sway. Thanks to the English ceramic firm of Copeland and Garrett, everyone was able to get into the act.
In 1842, the company, formerly owned by Josiah Spode, developed a process for inexpensively mass-producing porcelain figurines.
Porcelain is a mixture of kaolin (china clay) and feldspar (china stone).
Copeland loaded up the mixture with feldspar, deposited it into a mold, and poured off the excess. The result was a white hollowware figure that looked remarkably like marble.
Copeland called his product “statuary ware,” and started pumping out figures of classical deities, and busts of famous literary, musical, and historical personalities. This line of wares was so hugely successful that other companies soon followed suit.
Wedgwood called it “Carrara,” after the marble used by Michelangelo.
But the name that stuck—Parian—was coined by Minton, after the Greek isle of Paros, the marble quarry for much of Greek statuary.
The affordability of Parian ware meant that even modest homes could display the stately grandeur of classical statuary, just at a time when Great Britain was assembling its empire.
In the United States, the Vermont Company, Bennington Pottery and Porcelain began making Parian wares in 1846, and continued through 1858.
These wares, sometimes more patriotic, sentimental or romantic, are highly sought after by collectors. The 1958 book, “Bennington Pottery and Porcelain” by Richard Cater Barret catalogues many of the Vermont pieces.
American pieces that are marked will bear the company’s name, or say “Fenton Works,” “United States Pottery,” or “UPS.”
Appraisals: Today, marked Parian From Bennington, Copeland, Wedgwood and Minton can be valued over a thousand dollars.
Even unmarked pieces with porcelain decoration (pat-sur-pate) added to the figurine can be priced in the $300 to $500 range.
Other old, unmarked pieces are still affordable in the $100-300 range.
The sleek, stately, balanced and geometric lines of classical design have found favor in today’s interior design. The pure forms of pure white Parian are a perfect fit.
—Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions or appraisal requests to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.
