Violets, gold trim, 9 1/4" tall, signed, excellent....The Pickard China story dates back to 1893 when Wilder Pickard established the company in Edgerton, Wisconsin. At the turn of the 20th century, Pickard was moved to Chicago where the company specialized in hand-painted art pieces and dessert and tea sets. Artists from the famed Art Institute of Chicago and all over Europe came to Chicago to decorate one of a kind ceramic pieces. These early pieces are now highly sought-after by collectors on the secondary market.Wilder's son, Austin Pickard, joined the business in the late 1920's and soon began experimentations in developing a fine china dinnerware body. He moved the company to its present Antioch, Illinois location in 1930 and seven years later introduced the warm white china with the lion trademark still used today. This beautiful china, then as now, is noted for its graceful shapes, lightness and delicacy, unusual strength and brilliant glaze.

excellent