To those who admire and collect the luminous hand-painted loveliness that is Herend porcelain, there is fine china and then there is Hungarian-made Herend. “Herend is Herend, so all of it is incredibly beautiful and popular,” says antiques dealer Elana Silberman, of New York-based Elana’s Treasure Box. She echoes what many dealers and collectors know, which is that Herend stands out because of the quality of its artists and its special hard-paste porcelain, which is distinctive when compared to other types. “Herend is so special because it combines in such a lovely way ornaments, floral and animal motifs. It has a great love for detail and the most beautiful colors,” says Christiana Verita, a Vienna, Austria-based dealer with Le Chateau Antique who personally began collecting Herend when her father gave her a spectacular covered vase as a wedding present.
“In my experience the animals that sell very quickly are the Herend cats,”
Herend Hungarian White Porcelain Cat Figurine
Herend Fruits and Flowers Teapot, Rare Colossal
Known for famed dinnerware patterns such as Victoria, which includes butterflies and florals; Chinese Bouquet, which is painted in various colorways and has a stylized central peony motif, gilded accents and garlands; and Rothschild Bird, which includes stunningly detailed hand-painted birds, Herend is also known for its small animals and figurines. The distinctive Herend “fishnet” pattern in various colors covers a vast zoo of tiny animal figures, and some collectors focus solely on the Herend animals. Regardless of the type, small Herend animals and figures tend to hold their value well and stay in demand. “In my experience the animals that sell very quickly are the Herend cats,” says Silberman. “People love cats.” She notes that when it comes to other types of small objects, the vintage figurines of people are much more scarce and therefore in demand by collectors. 29