There’s something new to learn all the time and it’s a small world. These two thoughts came to mind today as I attended an event at William Ashley in Toronto. When I received the e-mail about this event, I wasn’t sure if I would be free to attend. However, I found myself with a few free hours and am so glad that I went. As you can see in the image above, the artist is preparing the paint she’s going to use. It was fascinating to watch her at work.
In this image, she is actually painting. She concentrates on her work and there is someone else from the Herend Company talking to the onlookers and answering questions. It’s nice for me to learn that Herend is a small town that is well-known for its porcelain manufacturing – founded in 1826. As I looked at the brochures after I came home, I became interested to find out about Herend. I googled Herend and found lots of information not only about Herend but was also able to read what visitors had to say about visiting the Herend factory. That’s what prompted me to say that there’s always something new to learn and that it’s a small world. The Hungarian Government gave Prince William and Kate a set of Herend porcelain dishes as a wedding present and their pattern was on display at Ashley’s today.
I will share a number of images below so that you can have a glimpse of some of the fine porcelain that Herend manufactures. For today’s event, there was a huge cake made by Select Bakery in Toronto and decorated with Herend porcelain figurines. Cake and coffee were served to add to the elegance of the occasion.
“From the tables of royalty to the set of Downton Abbey, Herend has been producing luxury porcelain for almost two centuries.”
Hungary is giving Prince William and Kate Middleton a set of special, handmade Herend china dinner set made by the iconic Herendi porcelain factory as a wedding present.The Royal Garden decor of the dinner service is a new pattern designed especially for the event. The decor is based on the hallmark Victoria design — the pattern Queen Victoria ordered from the Herend factory 160 years ago. The original, richly colored Chinese-style pattern of butterflies and flowers has been toned down to purple, green, turquoise, delicate rose and yellow hues with golden accents and rims, with monochrome-rimmed dinner plates. Queen Victoria ordered her set of a 24-person dinner service after seeing it on exhibit at the Great Exhibition in London at the first World Fair in 1851, where the factory’s exhibit won a golden medal. The new decor was designed by Laszlo Szathmary and painted by Maria Rakoczi. Herend has been popular among different members of the British Royal family, including the late Princess Diana, who came to the opening of a Herend exhibition in London back in 1989. (Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2011)
You can see the beautiful Herend figurines decorating the cake.
This is the figurine that the Herend staff member is holding. It is not easy to see in the image above.
It was a wonderful time at William Ashley’s in Toronto with the Herend visitors. By the way, the cake was delicious too.
Herend – small town in Hungary – fine porcelain manufacturing. If you don’t already know this, you know it now.
NOTE – All information for this post from the e-mail I received, from Google, and from Herend catalogs given out at Ashley’s today.