Haviland porcelain has always combined modern demands with creative craftsmanship. The finishing and decorating artistic work are all done by hand, by highly skilled and truly passionate artists.

Kaolin, feldspar and quartz are the principal components of porcelain. These items are placed in a grinder where they are crushed and mixed with water. The mixing takes several hours.

Depending on the manufacturing process, three types of porcelain are used:

• a soft mixture for jiggering (time honoured method of producing identical wares)
• for casting, a liquid form called « barbotine»
• a dry granulated mixture for pressing

Everything starts in the modeling workshop. An artist sculpts original creations in plaster. Time-consuming delicate work is necessary to perfect these forms. This is followed by the creation of production moulds, which are made in plaster from the original models.

Jiggering: The mould gives the exterior shape to each piece while a steel calibrator creates the interior shape.

Casting: Pieces with more complex shapes are produced through casting. Liquid porcelain flows evenly over the walls of the mould and dries. When the desired thickness is achieved the excess porcelain is eliminated.

Pressing: Pieces are pressed in a mould with a dry, grainy mixture of porcelain.

Garnishing: Handles, spouts and knobs are moulded independently and glued to finished pieces using a liquid mixture of similar composition.

Finishing: After drying, the finishing process removes «seams» left by the mould. Each piece is now perfectly smooth.

The “degourdi” firing: At this stage, the porcelain undergoes its first firing at approximately 950°C. This firing gives porcelain resistance and makes it porous, a necessity for enameling.

Enameling: Silica, pegmatite, kaolin and lime are mixed with water. The porcelain is plunged into this enamel mixture that gives it brilliance, sheen and translucency.

The “grand feu” firing: The second firing lasts for about 24 hours at a final temperature of 1,400°C and produces physical changes that allow the enamel to fuse with the porcelain body. Enameled porcelain pieces are referred to as «le blanc». A quality control check is performed on each item before it is sent to the decoration workshop.

Haviland has a chromolithography (method of transferring a design to the porcelain as opposed to hand painting) printing atelier to apply the patterns on each piece. The know-how, experience and skills of the artisans are essential to guarantee optimal quality.

Gold, platinum and colored filigree as well as handle and knob garnishing are all applied with a brush by «spinners», the steady-handed artists of decoration in the decor workshop. Then another firing between 900°C and 1,250°C adheres the decoration to the porcelain enamel.

Next there are more than eleven intricate steps to create incrustations on the piece. A protecting coating is firstly applied to all those areas of the porcelain that will not be encrusted. The piece is plunged into an acid bath which etches the enamel and leaves relief in the areas to be polished. The piece is then cleaned. A first coat of brilliant gold is applied with a brush. The piece is then fired at a temperature of 810°C. A second coat of matte gold is then applied and the piece is fired again at 850°C. The gold is gently polished with very fine sand, to accentuate the difference between the matt area (engraved portion) and the brilliant area (the non-engraved portion of the decor).