Collecting Vintage Fiesta Dinnerware
Casual Tableware from Newell, West Virginia
The aesthetically pleasing dinnerware was introduced in 1936 by the Homer Laughlin China Company (HLC) of Newell. The company’s most successful line was designed by Frederick Hurten Rhead, a ceramist from Stoke-on-Trent, England.
Fiesta was discontinued in 1972 and reintroduced with new contemporary colors to mark its 50th anniversary.
Fiesta Tableware Vintage Colors
This was not the first line of colorful art deco tableware made in the United States. It was the first solid-color dinnerware to be widely advertised and marketed.
The 1936 original colors were red, ivory, blue, yellow, and green. Turquoise was added the following year. All colors sold for the same price to begin, but red items were priced higher in advertisements of May 1937.
The curvaceous Fiesta pieces’ distinguishing form has a band of seven concentric circles. They have the appearance of items handcrafted on a pottery wheel and hand-fired in a kiln. Rhead’s departure from the English all-white tradition, and the use of brilliant-colored glazes, made Fiesta immediately popular.
Open Stock Dinnerware
The original production of 34 pieces included everything from candleholders to dinner plates in four sizes, coffeepot and teapot, cups and saucers, bowls and more.
While basic table services for four, six or eight persons were available, the open stock mix-and-match concept had wide appeal. Customers could purchase one or two pieces of Fiesta at a time.
Vintage Fiesta is the best known and most collected line of dinnerware made in the United States. Sales on auction websites and at antique and collectibles venues are usually brisk.
Collecting Vintage Fiesta
Some of the old Fiesta pieces have the company stamp on the bottom. Others are marked with pairs of letters or numbers. The seven concentric circles are important for positive identification. There are many imitations of Fiesta tableware, so it’s always best to learn as much as possible from reference books or credible websites.
Vintage bowls made during the first year can be easily identified by the rings at the bottom on the inside. The rings were not included in the design after the first year. The bowls also have the stamp on the outside of the bottom.
Two pieces most coveted by collectors are the covered onion soup bowl, particularly in turquoise glaze, and the 12” compartment plate. Both items were removed from production after the first year and are in limited supply. Also of special interest are complete sets of seven nesting bowls in perfect condition.
Fiesta dinnerware collector Heidi Kellner commented on safety issues with Fiesta. In a Collectors Weekly interview, she stated, “There have been health concerns since the very beginning, not only because they were using uranium in their red, but before they started remaking it in the ‘80s, it was all lead-based glazes”. She remarked that she would not put the vintage pieces in her microwave oven or dishwasher.
FIESTA® dinnerware is found in collections at the Smithsonian Institution and the Andy Warhol Museum. It has also been featured on the Today Show and Extreme Home Makeover television programs.
Sources:
- Collector's Encyclopedia Of Fiesta byBob Huxford, Sharon Huxford, Published by Collector Books, Revised Edition 2005
- Collectors Weekly
Fiesta Vintage Dinnerware
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Vintage Fiesta Dinnerware
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Fiesta Vintage Tableware
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Colorful Fiesta Dinnerware
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