Hall China
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Following Robert Hall's death in 1904 the company was taken over by his son, Robert Taggart Hall. At this time the Hall China Company made utilitarian pottery for institutions such as hotels.
Almost all pottery of this era was double fired. This means that the clay was fired once and turned into bisque. The bisque was glazed and fired again. The result was a pottery that was porous and susceptible to crazing.
Robert T. Hall knew that the Chinese of the Ming dynasty had employed a single fire technique. He experimented for seven years while he perfected the process, using a lead-free glaze and a temperature of 2400 degrees. What he finally came up with was a product that was extremely strong and could hold a lot of heat.
Business boomed beginning in 1914 when competing products were no longer available from Europe due to World War I. In 1920 the Hall China Company introduced a line of gold decorated teapots. Eventually teapots were introduced in exotic shapes such as footballs, birdcages, and automobiles. Hall become the largest manufacturer of teapots in the world, and would tout itself as the world's largest manufacturer of fireproof cooking ware.
In the 30s and 40s Hall China sold large amounts of dinnerware decorated with decals, a fashion at the time. Many of the patterns are associated with certain stores because they were primarily given away as premiums: Autumn Leaf with the Jewel Tea Company, Orange Poppy with the Great American Tea Company, Red Poppy with the Grand Union Tea Company.
Hall also manufactured kitchenware such as kitchen cannisters, and refrigeratorware included with the purchase of new refrigerators by companies such as Westinghouse and Hotpoint.
In the early 50s Hall began an association with the noted designer Eva Zeisel.
The Hall China Company is still in business. Almost all Hall is marked. The company used a variety of marks, but for collectors' purposes the mark to be aware of is the one used after 1970 consisting of a rectangle containing only the word Hall. Some reproductions were done by the factory beginning 1985, and some reproductions and new designs were done by a private collectors' club. These were marked, but unscrupulous vendors have been known to rub off the marks.
Due to the abundant supply of many items and the availability of them in venues like internet auctions, prices of Hall China have been stable or somewhat downsliding. When purchasing common items be sure that trim like gold banding is in excellent condition and is not worn. Rare items like the one-handled beanpot in the Autumn Leaf pattern can still be worth over a thousand dollars. Many of the go-withs sold with the Hall dinnerware, such as a tablecloth in the Autumn Leaf pattern, can still fetch premium prices.
Standard references include The Collector's Encyclopedia of Hall China by Margaret and Kenn Whitmyer (Schroeder publishing) and Superior Quality Hall China by Harvey Duke (ELO books).
View Hall China for sale at Centennial Antiques
Vicki
Young
PO Box 435
Randolph, OH 44265
330-325-7866