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Collector's Encyclopedia of Old Ivory China

by Hillman, Goldschmitt & Szynkiewicz
Collector Books U.S., October 1997
ISBN 1-5743-2023-8

Name Mix-Up

Throughout the book the state of Thuringia is constantly wrongly named as Thuringer. Perhaps not a big thing, but how much would you trust a tourist guide that constantly claims that the town you are just visiting is called Newjorg instead of New York?

State Mix-Up

It is also claimed that Thuringia was "Germany/Austria" and that the "area of Thuringer changed from Austria to Germany during the period of operation of the factory" which is of course total nonsense as Thuringia has always been German and is located so far away from Austria that even the border corrections after wars can not account for the statement in this book.

Location Mix-Up

Most conclusions mentioned in this book can be proven wrong by simply looking at a map. The authors claim that the facility of Hermann Ohme was responsible for some pieces showing Austria as country of origin. The factory of Hermann Ohme was located in Niedersalzbrunn while the decoration studio was in Waldenburg. Both towns are located in former Upper Silesia which of course was German (Prussian Empire, later Third Reich) until the end of WWII. Every history book and map clearly shows that it was Bohemia which formerly belonged to Austria (Austrian-Hungarian Empire) and not the area of Upper Silesia.

... And Forgotten Stuff

They should have at least mentioned that the often quoted J.H.R. & Co. was the company of John H. Roth Co., a major US importer which was located in South Bend (Indiana). The company is sometimes better known simply under their trade name Jonroth and was founded in 1909 (Mr. Roth worked as a clerk for Wheelock before that).

Conclusion

Taking all this into account, the book by Hillman, Goldschmitt & Szynkiewicz is the worst example of a Collector Book I have found so far. Most of the content is based on shoddy research and the conclusions they come up with are easily undermined by anybody who uses his own common sense and a map. They later re-issued their work, obviously revised, but not without complaining about how I had treated them and their work.