-

Chatham Episcopal Institute Tea Service

Dr. Bill Black
From the Archives
Solving a Mystery?
 
A delicate white and gold porcelain tea service with a stylized CEI on each piece is part of the Chatham Hall Archive. Since each piece has “Limoges, France” underneath, the long-standing belief has been that the famous French company had manufactured the porcelain set.
 
In the spring of 2019, the Chatham Hall Archive created an inventory of art and antiques owned by Chatham Hall. In an attempt to identify the CEI tea set, Mary Lee Black, retired head of the Chatham Hall foreign language department, wrote to Muséé National Adrien Dubouché Limoges, the company’s museum in Limoges, France, to find out if they could identify the decoration and even the date the set was commissioned. The reply changes the preconceived perception and adds an interesting peek into Chatham Hall’s history.
 
Valérie Gramfort, the charge détudes documentaires, responded that she could not find anything in her company’s records but was able to identify the imprint, le point de repére, under each piece.
 
The set is, in fact, porcelain manufactured in Limoges, France, early in the 20th century by two different companies. Their histories give a different perspective on the importance of the tea service to Chatham Hall's history.
 
Teapot and Sugar Bowl 
Previously thought to be Limoges porcelain, the imprint under both is WG et Cie Limoges, France
 
WG stands for William Guérin and Company formed in 1877 and functioned under that name until 1920 when a merger changed the name to Guérin-Pouat-Elite which continued until 1932.
 
The company exported fine white blank pieces to studios in the USA. These studios did custom work.
 
Three factors suggest that the pot and bowl were probably bought before 1920 and no earlier than 1907. First, the company imprint changed in 1920. Second, the Great War (1914 – 1918) interrupted production in France until after 1919. Third, everything connected to the school was destroyed in the 1906 fire.
 
Cups and Saucers
The imprint under all eight pieces is T&V Limoges, France
T stands for Emillen Tressemanes; the V stands for Gustave Vogt.
 
Gustave Vogt (1849-1937) took over the Limoges branch of his father’s porcelain company around 1870 and partnered with Emilien Tressemanes in the early 1880s. In 1891, they bought two small porcelain factories in Faubourg Montjovis (Limoges) and made high-quality whiteware for export to the USA. Their product used the T&V Limoges, France imprint between 1891 and 1907. The T & V imprint was used until Tressemanes retired in 1907 when it was changed to reflect a new partnership. The company was commissioned in 1891 to produce a dinner service for President Harrison.

The opening of the new CEI building (now Pruden Hall) in September of 1907 offers the tantalizing suggestion that the tea service was a presentation piece intended to be used for the new and grander CEI.
Back
800 Chatham Hall Circle  •  Chatham, VA 24531
Main Phone
+1 434.432.2941  

Admissions Contact
+1 434.432.5516 • admissions@chathamhall.org

Day and boarding school for girls grades 9-12 in the Episcopal tradition.

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Please enter your email above