We found this lovely teacup and saucer, made by Graf von Hennenberg of Germany, while browsing in Newport Pagnell. Graf von Hennenberg has origins as far back as 1777. It changed hands several times until 1998.
I really wanted to know more about this pretty vintage teacup and a quick google search revealed quite a lot of information.
On 28 August 1998, the factory was sold to Rolf Frowein, a former manager of the ‘Thuringia Industriebeteiligungs, but problems arose with the loan from the European Union.
In September 2001 the second main creditor represented by the ‘Thüringer Aufbaubank’ canceled their loan and the company had to pay back over 5.9 million Euro; the bad news was then followed by a letter regarding the fact that with date of October 30th 2001 the restructuring aid from the European Union had also been canceled. That was too much for the ‘Graf von Henneberg Porzellan G.m.b.H.’ and the company had to file for insolvency. Proceedings were opened on November 1st 2001 and even after an investor from Austria in February 2002 still showed interest in the factory, the whole company was liquidated.
It seemed that Rolf Frowein did not want to give up easily. He founded the ‘Neue Porzellanfabrik Ilmenau G.m.b.H.’ and took over the ‘Graf von Henneberg’ name and assets, completely re-structuring the factory. Large parts of the factory were offered for sale or rent, but production continued. On May 1st 2002 Mrs. Heike Simon founded the ‘HERO Design’ company which is the factory outlet for ‘Graf von Henneberg’ products; ‘HERO Design’ also uses the Henneberg web address.
Source:http://www.porcelainmarksandmore.com/thuringia/ilmenau_3/00.php
From the hallmark on the bottom of the plate, I would date it from 1991 onwards. This would look lovely as part of a formal wedding table decoration as shown in my post Love is Sweet… or as it is originally intended… for having a lovely cup of tea.
You will be able to customise this item for purchase from eBay shortly. What do we mean by customise? You choose the colour and fragrance and we’ll make this to your order. If you’d rather just have tea or coffee in it, that’s fine too. Just let us know.
Contact us if you’d like to reserve this rare cup for your Vintage Flicker.
Vintage Flicker 