NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA– The Historic New Orleans Collection has some remarkable stories. During the coronavirus pandemic, they are still offering tours but with a twist. From the comfort of your own home they have an wide array of virtual tours. Lydia Blackmore is the Decorative Arts Curator and also behind the virtual tour entitled, Goods of Every Description: Shopping in New Orleans. This story is about a teapot, sold by the John Gauche’s Sons store; but it is much more than than it seems.
“China Emporiums” and “China Palaces” became the largest places to shop in the late 19th century, offering goods at all price points and in a variety of patterns to match personal taste. The picture above is of a mid-range floral and gilded teapot, produced by Haviland & Co. It was made in Limoges, France and sold by John Gauche’s Sons in New Orleans.
John Gauche, an immigrant for Alsace-Lorraine, established his porcelain and crockery business on Chartres Street in the early 1840s. Gauche’s business did well and he was soon involved in partnerships selling porcelain in St. Louis and Mexico. Gauche had a wide ranging business, selling French porcelain, English earthenware, looking glasses, and lots and lots of glass, including Bohemian etched glassware, and American glass, which he received in packages and crates that was shipped down the Mississippi river from St. Louis and Cincinnati.
John Gauche died in 1868 and his wife took over the expanding business. Madame Gauche ran the ceramics and home goods business for over a decade until her sons took over the firm in the 1880s, changing the name to John Gauche’s Sons. The Gauche family business sold all types of popular china patterns, glassware, home furnishings, and dry goods.
Haviland & Co was one of the largest manufacturers of French porcelain. The company was started by David Haviland, a china dealer from New York. Haviland went to France in the 1840s seeking quality porcelain for his customers. He established his manufactory in Limoges specifically to produce wares that would appeal to American consumers. Haviland soon became the largest provider of porcelain for the American market and the largest manufacturer in Limoges. Limoges are a specific type of porcelain made in France. Haviland pottery produced thousands of china patterns, blossoming with delicate flowers and pretty borders.
Following the Civil War, John Gauche purchased a large, unfinished building above Canal Street, on Lafayette Square. He worked with architect James Freret to renovate the cast-iron building that became known as the “Moresque Building” because of its distinctive style. The iconic Moresque Building burned in 1897, it’s cast iron materials turning it into a furnace, rather than making it fireproof. The company struggled along for almost a decade, liquidating its assets in 1906.
