Porcelain is expensive — yes. Sometimes very expensive; a tea duo can sell for the price of a car. And that is without mentioning the Ming dynasty cup that went for 36 million dollars at Sotheby's.
But let us talk about more ordinary people. Then as now, buying porcelain was no simple matter financially, even for someone comfortably off a hundred or two hundred years ago. And that isn't really the point either. The point is that emigrants from Europe to the New World often didn't even lock the house when they left for work — in case a child came home from school, say. Naturally, things were stolen. And expensive porcelain was one of the choicer prizes for a thief.
There was a way round it: to sign your own name in permanent colour, which is exactly what we see in these photographs. This fantastic hand-painted set by Gustave Vogt was made between 1891 and 1907 in Limoges, by the partnership of Tressemanes & Vogt. And Grace L. Gilbridge, having bought it, put her mark of ownership on the underside of the dishes.
And a little primer, because we can't do without one: if you see Limoges porcelain with roses like these, it is most likely Vogt's work.
One more thing — this set was in use, as the underside shows, for more than a hundred years. It is still in excellent condition, and you look at it as you would at a painting in its frame. That, among other things, is what explains the cost of good things: they were made as if for oneself, to last for centuries.
