Pickard China: Hand-Painted Decorated Porcelain
Pickard China Company, founded by Wilder Pickard in Chicago in 1893, is one of America's most distinguished porcelain decorating studios. For its first five decades, Pickard operated exclusively as a decorating studio, purchasing blank porcelain from European factories (primarily Haviland, Rosenthal, and others) and applying exceptional hand-painted decoration and elaborate gold work in its Chicago workshops. In 1938, Pickard began manufacturing its own porcelain at a factory in Antioch, Illinois. The early decorated pieces (1893-1938) are the most collected, prized for their extraordinary gold work and artistic painting.
Identification & Marks
- Pickard marks: The mark evolved from a simple "Pickard" script to increasingly elaborate backstamps; the specific mark provides accurate dating
- "Pickard Hand Painted China": Common early mark, sometimes with "Chicago, Ill."
- Maple leaf mark: Used in early periods; maple leaves in various configurations help date pieces
- Artist signatures: Most pieces are signed by the decorator; key artists include Edward Challinor, Curtis Marker, Arthur Comyn, Harry Tolley, and Maxwell Rean Klipphahn
- Blank identification: European factory marks may appear alongside the Pickard mark, indicating the blank's origin
Decorative Styles
- All-Over Gold (AOG): Heavy gold encrustation covering most of the surface; the most valuable Pickard style
- Gold etched and encrusted: Detailed gold patterns on colored grounds
- Scenic and landscape: Hand-painted landscapes, garden scenes, and pastoral views
- Fruit and floral: Naturalistic fruit studies and flower paintings, often on dark grounds
- Conventional (stylized) designs: Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts inspired geometric and stylized patterns
- Vellum finish: A matte, parchment-like surface used on some decorative pieces
Auction Price Ranges
| Item | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cup and saucer (floral) | $30 | $80 | $200 |
| Plate (scenic, signed) | $50 | $200 | $600 |
| Vase (All-Over Gold) | $100 | $400 | $1,500 |
| Vase (scenic, signed artist) | $150 | $500 | $2,000 |
| Lemonade/cider pitcher | $75 | $250 | $700 |
| Punch bowl (decorated) | $200 | $600 | $2,000 |
| Cabinet plate (exceptional) | $100 | $300 | $1,000 |
Condition Factors
- Gold decoration wear is the primary condition concern; pieces with bright, unfaded gold bring strong premiums
- Artist-signed pieces bring 30-50% more than unsigned examples of comparable quality
- Check for crazing in the European blank; this is a fault of the blank, not the decoration
- Hairline cracks reduce value by 50% or more, especially on higher-value pieces
- Later manufacturer's pieces (post-1938) are generally less collected than the earlier decorated blanks
Collecting Tips
- Artist identity is a major value driver; learn to recognize the signatures of the top Pickard decorators
- All-Over Gold pieces represent the peak of Pickard's gold work and are the most consistently valuable
- The same Pickard pattern can appear on blanks from different European factories; the decoration, not the blank, determines value in most cases
- Pickard decorated pieces for other retailers; some carry dual marks (Pickard plus retailer)
- Complete sets or services are rare because Pickard primarily produced individual decorative pieces
- Reference books by Alan Reed document marks, artists, and patterns comprehensively
- Post-1938 manufactured porcelain includes fine dinnerware lines that appeal to a different collector base than the earlier decorated pieces