Mid Victorian Porcelain Laboratory Sample Tray by Haldenwanger Berlin

For sale, a Mid Victorian sectioned laboratory sample tray by Haldenwanger of Berlin

Comprised entirely of porcelain, the tray is sectioned into twelve separate wells with painted numbering applied to each prior to firing. The base is stamped with the Haldenwanger company logo of an H with an arrow above.

The company was formed in 1865 by Wilhelm Haldenwanger who had previously been under the employment of The Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin (KPM). Rather than compete with his old employer, Haldenwanger focused on providing medical and health products. Although initially successful, the company ran into cash flow problems during the latter part of the decade but was saved by the financier Alfred Bruno Schwarz. This injection of cash supported a period of largescale manufacturing expansion but it seems that by the 1880’s Schwarz had managed to engineer a wholesale take over of the business. The name however remained with the company given the fame it had already achieved and it continued to prosper into the Twentieth Century.

The company’s factories were largely destroyed during World War II but it was rebuilt and regained its success in the post war era, providing both household and medical products.

The company was finally sold to the British Morgan Crucible Company in 1997 and continues to produce technical ceramics to this day.

Circa 1870