Theodore Haviland - Limoges, France Railroad China Porcelain Egg Cups - Exclusively for The Grand Trunk Railroad - Chateau Laurier Hotel

Collectibles : Railroadiana : China, Porcelain : Hotel Ware : Transportation : Egg Cups : Decorative

 

What a magnificent find for collectors of Theodore Haviland, railroadiana and hotel ware china and porcelain. These magnificent egg cups were manufactured by Theodore Haviland and were supplied by A. Rosenthal & Son Ltd to the Chateau Laurier, a hotel owned by the Grand Trunk Railroad before the First World War. This pair of egg cups, with such a immaculate gold frontmark bearing the insignia of the Chateau Laurier Hotel and cobalt around the rim measures 2 1/2" in height and are in absolute mint condition with no chips, cracks or signs of ware to the pattern. The backmark of these egg cups reads "Manufactured by Theodore Haviland - Limoges France for A. Rosenthal & Sons Ltd., Ottawa for Chateau Laurier"

In 1907, during a time of grandeur and elegance, Ottawa's premier hotel was commissioned by American-born Charles Melville Hays, General Manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway of Canada. Following a disagreement with architect Bradford Lee Gilbert, Ross and Macfarlane Contractors was hired to build the hotel in French Renaissance style using granite blocks for the base, buff Indiana limestone for the walls and copper for the roof.

Unfortunately, Hays never had the chance to see his dream come true. Days before the hotel's scheduled opening on April 26, 1912, the new president of the railway was returning from England with dining room furniture, on the ill-fated Titanic. Hays and the male members of his party perished on April 14, 1912. Only Paul Chevre, who sculpted the bust of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and the women in Hays' party, including his wife Clara, survived the disaster.

The Château Laurier was eventually opened by its namesake, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, on June 12, 1912. At that time, Ottawa was not the refined town it is today as it reflected its rough Bytown origins. The Château Laurier changed that and was once dubbed 'the third chamber of Parliament' in reference to the number of politicians roaming the corridors. In its rooms, political deals were made, careers launched or destroyed and governments created and dissolved.

Item ID: ME-2824