Viennese maker exhibits at the Herend Porcelain Art Museum

• 14. August 2003. - 11. October 2003.

Lobmeyr glass is known far beyond the borders of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. This family concern has gained artistic appreciation for its glassware all over the world. Founded in 1823 by Josef Lobmeyr, the firm is now run by the sixth generation of the Rath family, who are committed to the highest quality of hand production.

Herend and Lobmeyr - are both business enterprises that have stuck to the manufacture of products of the highest quality and were decorating the tables of the Habsburgs in the 19th century, both of them appointed purveyors to the imperial and royal court. Archduke Maximilian, for instance, ordered from Herend in the 1860s a table service for which Lobmeyr of Vienna provided complementary, richly engraved glassware with a crown and anchor.
With both companies attaining the status of royal purveyors, their earliest cooperation dates back to the mid-19th century, when Ferdinand Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, placed orders with both workshops for his palace at Miramare: a Herend porcelain table service by the same name (MR) and a set of glasses from Lobmeyr richly engraved with his initials, the crown and anchor (No. 54.).

The Royal Castle of Buda was furbished in 1870. Emperor Francis Joseph I. had his tables laid with glassware and china adorned simply with his initials and the Hungarian crown.

In subsequent years orders came flooding in from the Esterházy family, the owners of the Blümbach mansion near Salzburg, the Bohlen and Halbach families, Hotel Sacher in Vienna, Persian prince Davallou, Saudi princess Maha al Ibrahim and the Russian Ministry of Natural Gas.

Some 50 years ago, Lobmeyr began offering Herend Porcelain at its showrooms. There have recently been several events and displays with the Manufactory at the Lobmeyr store in Kärntnerstrasse, the foremost Vienna shopping street.

Now Herend has returned the compliment, hosting at its museum an exhibition of the outstanding pieces in the Lobmeyr collection that gives unique insight into the work of the firm. The 74 main exhibits include diplomas and documents as well. They include pieces by such famous artists as Joseph Hoffmann, Michael Powolny and Mattheo Thun.
Above all, the exhibition reflects the faith that the Lobmeyr firm retains in supplying its clients with first-rate hand-made products of lasting value.