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No date known, "Erphila Art Pottery" item, made in "Bavaria".
Zeh, Ebeling & Reuss Co. was established by the German emigrants Theodore Ebeling and Frederick Reuss which had teamed up with the owner of a glassware and china business, John E. F. Zeh. The company imported porcelain, earthenware, and ironstone from several Bohemian, Czechoslovakian factories and other European countries, including dinnerware, decorations, and gift items. Zeh withdrew from the company in 1900; it was renamed to Ebeling & Reuss Co. before moving to Devon, Pennsylvania.
Business increased further as the company quickly became a major supplier of porcelain figures and teapots to shops in North Eastern United States. The company's import volume peaked in the late 1940's/50's and with George Ebeling as long time manager, the company also remained in the hands of the Ebeling and Reuss families.
Early in the 1980s it was already pretty obvious that Ebeling & Reuss needed to restructure and take up new ideas. In 1986, the company became exclusive distributor for the Crystal Signature line of Swarovski figures, far too late to make a change. While Ebeling & Reuss slowly drifted towards bankruptcy in 1988, Swarovski International wanted to halt development of the figurines in breach of its duties under the distribution agreement. During the investigation, one of thousands of internal Swarovski documents finally showed that it was planned all along to take back the distribution rights to the crystal figurines if the venture proved to be successful.
The resulting trial concluded 1992, with the jury finding in favour of Ebeling & Reuss on all counts, awarding it $55 million. Ronald Rapelje purchased the assets the same year and moved Ebeling & Reuss to Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company was eventually sold to the Strathmore Corporation of Pennsylvania on April 15th 2002.
What makes this company interesting is the fact that they imported products from many factories, including the German firms of Alboth & Kaiser (Kronach, later Staffelstein), Fürstenberg (Fürstenberg), Goebel (Oeslau / Rödental), Heinrich & Co. (Selb) and (from 1955 onwards) Carl Schumann (Arzberg). The firm also imported goods from the Keramos company from Austria and the company of Ditmar-Urbach located in Teplitz-Turn (today Czech Republic); furthermore they purchased items from various manufacturers around Limoges (France).
The shield mark with "Golden Crown" above the depiction of a crown above "E&R" was filed at the USPTO on 03-JUL-1956 under serial number №·72011474; the mark was registered as №·0660122.
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No date known, "Erphila Art Pottery" item, made in "Bavaria".
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No date known, "Erphila Art Pottery" item, made in "Germany".
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Used between 1918 and 1921, "Erphila Art Pottery" item, made in 'CZECHO SLOVAKIA'.
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No date known.
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No date known, green "Erphila Germany" mark next to Ernst Bohne Söhne mark.
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No date known, mark version with "handpainted" and "Czechoslovakia".
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No date known, nearly same as before but only with "Germany".
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Erphila mark on items made by the Silesian Königszelt factory between 1930 and 1938.
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No date known, round mark containing 'ERPHILA' above cursive "Germany".
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No date known, this version shows "Made in Germany".
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Used between 1918 and 1921, red version with "Czecho-Slovakia".
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Used between 1918 and 1921, dark green version with "Czecho-Slovakia".
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Used from 1921 onwards, brown version with "Czechoslovakia".
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No date known, green cogwheel mark with "Germany".
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No date known. Same as before, this time in black.
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No date known. For comparison, here we have one with "Made in Germany".
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No date known, half-cogwheel mark, here in gold with "Made in Czechoslovakia".
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No date known.
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No date known, simple "Ebeling & Reuss Co." above "Limoges" and "France".
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No date known, found on items from the US Canonsburg Pottery.
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No date known.
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No date known.
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No date known, "Erphila" mark next to a Wächtersbach mark.
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Around 1950, "Golden Chestnut" mark,
(Picture: Loriann Zsohar)
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Example of a "Golden Crown Italy" mark.
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Used between 1950 and 1960, "Golden Crown" mark with the Erphila founding year "1886".
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No date known, "Golden Crown" mark with "Bone China" and "England".
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No date known, the "Golden Crown" sticker version on a piece produced in Austria.
(Picture: Theresa Hartmans
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No date known, slightly clearer example of the "Golden Crown Austria" sticker.
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Example of the "Golden Crown Italy" sticker.
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Used around 1955, "Golden Crown" mark with "Made In Western Germany".
(Picture: Elsie Stormont)
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Used around 1955, "Golden Crown" sticker with "Western Germany".
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