About Herend

Queen Victoria dined on it, and Princess Diana delighted to it in her annual Christmas stocking. Now it’s time to savor a special Herend experience of your own.

Brush your fingers along Herend’s smooth white porcelain body and hand painted designs, and sense the passion of great sculptors, master painters and visionary designers imbued in every piece they lovingly craft. Intended for use and enjoyment as well as artistic appreciation, Herend’s durability and ease of care ensure it fits perfectly with your lifestyle.

Herend holds a rich history spanning many years, crossing many oceans and charming generation after generation to enjoy worldwide acclaim as the pinnacle in supreme porcelain, also known as “white gold.” Now the biggest porcelain manufactory in Europe, Herend was founded in 1826 in the small village of Herend, Hungary to produce pottery.  In 1839 a major turning point occurred when Mor Fischer became the manufactory’s new owner. Taking Herend in an entirely new direction, visionary Fischer carved out the unique niche of producing dinnerware replacement pieces for Europe’s royal families to complement their valuable porcelain patterns from Germany and the Far East.

Fischer engineered a string of royal successes that quickly put Herend on the map and led to the next phase of Herend’s growth, when manufactory artists began designing dinnerware patterns of their own. Queen Victoria’s 1851 purchase of a large set for Windsor Castle was a milestone, setting the stage for aristocrats throughout Europe to clamor for Herend in their estates.

In the 1870s Herend added meticulously-crafted figurines to its creations. Folk figurines commanded center stage until demand for Herend’s animal figurines gradually grew in the1930s. Herend’s trademark fishnet design – which is most popular in the U.S. -- originated in 1858 when an artist intrigued with a Chinese plate’s fish scale design painted it onto a rooster figurine’s breast to imitate feathers.

Herend was formally brought to the U.S. marketplace in 1957 by Martin’s Herend Imports, Inc., the U.S. importer and wholesale distributor. Today Herend is sold in more than 350 fine retail stores nationwide, which are the only authorized sources of genuine Herend porcelain. The only way to be confident your purchase is authentic is to shop at an authorized Herend dealer.