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Herend's "kinai" pattern

Herend's "kinai" pattern

The Herend Porcelain Manufactory (Hungarian: Herendi Porcelánmanufaktúra Zrt.) is a Hungarian manufacturing company, specializing in luxury hand painted and gilded porcelain. Founded in 1826, it is based in the town of Herend near the city of Veszprém.

In the mid-19th century it was purveyor to the Habsburg Dynasty and aristocratic customers throughout Europe. Many of its classic patterns are still in production.

After the fall of Communism in Hungary the factory was privatised and is now 75% owned by its management and workers. As of 2006, the factory is profitable and exports to over 60 countries of the world. Its main markets are the USA, Japan, Italy and Russia.

History[link]

The factory at Herend was founded in 1826 by Vince Stingl as an earthenware pottery manufacturing factory, but also he had been carrying out research experiments on porcelain making. Stingl ran out of funds and subsequently went bankrupt, his creditor Mór Fischer took control of the factory in 1839. The new owner of the manufactory, Mór Fischer, being very ambitious and having new ideas, started artistic porcelain manufacturing in the same year. At that time it was almost impossible to replace broken pieces and supply old, classical porcelain dinner-sets from the Far East and from Europe, but Mór Fischer's efforts met the support of the Hungarian aristocracy already in 1840.

The artistic demand, the effort of manufacturing the first true pieces in Herend succeeded in a very short time. The First Hungarian Applied Art Exhibition, the Vienna Exhibition in 1845, the Great Exhibition in London, 1851, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York, 1853 and the Exposition Universelle in Paris, 1855, brought the highest appreciation for Herend. This appreciation appears in the orders made on behalf of several royal courts (Queen Victoria, Francis Joseph I., Maximillian, Mexican emperor etc.).

The name of well-known patterns refer to the first customers (Queen Victoria, Esterházy, Batthyány, Rothschild, Apponyi). In 1865 Francis Joseph I gave noble title to Mór Fischer, appreciating his results and work in porcelain art. From 1872 Mór Fischer Farkasházy, Purveyor to the Royal Court, was entitled to use the shapes and patterns of the Manufactory of Vienna, which had closed down. That was the first golden age of Herend.

In 1874 Mór Fischer gave the management of the manufactory to his sons. After this, the level of production started to decline, due to repressing the artistic aspests. The factory had several owners, and went almost bankrupt as a result of withdrawing from the artistic aspects. Development came only at the end of the century, when the grandson of the founder, Jeno Farkasházy, became the owner of the factory. Jeno Farkasházy was a trained ceramist, who gained experience in foreign factories and wanted to follow the founder's concepts. Having excellent taste, he gave new life to traditions and in addition, introduced novelties in 1900 Paris, and 1901 St. Petersburg.

Between the two world wars, limited reproduction of traditional products, from the age of Mór Fischer, was continued. Hungarian figures were also manufactured, after the work of the best Hungarian sculptors.

In 1948 the Manufactory was nationalized and owned by the communist State. In 1993 it was privatised and 75% of the Porcelain Manufactory is now owned by the management and workers. The mission of the Herend Porcelain Manufactory Ltd. is to maintain its position as a profitable enterprise on the leading edge of production of hand-crafted luxury porcelain goods of outstanding quality, nurturing the history and traditions of artisanship, providing a secure, long-term workplace for its skilled employees.

Products[link]

Herend products are made from hard-paste porcelain using a mixture of kaolin, feldspar and quartz.

After cleaning, decorating and drying, it is first fired at 830 degrees Celsius. The fired pieces are then immersed in a glaze and fired again, this time at 1410 degrees Celsius. This results in white, translucent porcelain. At this stage it is ready for painting by hand and then, depending whether it has been painted with colours or with gold, it is finished off with one or two more firings.

The design artists, wheel potters, painters, and modellers add the value that has won this porcelain 24 grand and gold prizes in world exhibitions between 1851 and 1937^{[citation needed]}. Perhaps the most well known Herend pattern was presented at the London World Exhibition in 1851, the Chinese-style butterflies and flowery branches painted in joyful, lively colours. The British Queen, Victoria, ordered a dinner set with its gold medal-winning pattern for Windsor Castle. Hence the pattern's name "Viktória".

The Herend Porcelain Manufactory was purveyor to the Habsburg Dynasty and the aristocracy, both in Hungary and abroad. The factory consciously preserves traditions and therefore the quality of Herend Porcelain is consistent.

Museum[link]

The company operates the Porcelain Museum of Herend at its site. The museum opened to visitors in 1964 and was chosen as the museum of the year 2002 in Hungary.^[1] The Museum presents the history of and the technology used by the Herend porcelain factory and working displays take visitors through the entire process of creating Herend porcelain.

See also[link]

• List of companies of Hungary

Further reading[link]

• Csany, K. Geshichte der ungarischen Keramik, der Porzellane und ihre Marken. (Budapest, 1954)
• Herend Porcelain Manufactory. Herend: Traditional Craftsmanship in the 20th Century. (1992) ISBN 978-963-8155-05-4
• Sikota, Gyozo. Herend: Manufaktur der ungarischen Porzellankunst (Corvina, 1982)

References[link]

External links[link]

• HEREND USA Website
• HEREND GUILD USA Website
• Herend Porcelain Manufactory Ltd
• Porcelain Museum of Herend

The Kings
The Kings performing at the George R. Robinson Bandshell in Gage Park, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Background information
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Rock, pop
Years active	1977–present
Website	thekingsarehere.com
Members
David Diamond Mister Zero Peter Nunn Sonny Keyes Peter Kadar Todd Reynolds
Past members
Gary Craig Greg Chritchley Josh Broadbent Marty Cordrey Max Styles Randall Coryell Rich Roxborough Whitey Glan Atilla Turi

The Kings are a Canadian rock band formed in 1977 in Vancouver. They are best known for their 1980 North American hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide".^[1]

Recording history[link]

The Kings were formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Oakville, Ontario in the late 1970s. The original lineup included David Diamond (bass, lead vocals), Sonny Keyes (keyboards, vocals), Max Styles (drums), and Mister Zero (guitar) with Mister Zero and David Diamond serving as the main songwriters with contributions from Sonny Keyes. The Kings were originally known as WhistleKing and rehearsed, performed club gigs, and wrote a considerable number of songs for more than three years.

In early 1980 the band went into Nimbus 9 Studio in Toronto to record their first album. While recording, renowned producer Bob Ezrin visited the studio, listened to the band, and liked what he heard.^[2] Together they created the album The Kings Are Here featuring the hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide". Two other singles followed and the band began touring extensively with Bob Seger, Jeff Beck, The Beach Boys and Eric Clapton. During 1980, their rising commercial fortunes culminated in an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, and the closing spot at the major Heatwave festival in August.^[1]

Amazon Beach, the 1981 follow-up to The Kings Are Here, produced little in the way of sales, and the band was soon dropped from their label Elektra Records. The Kings soldiered on and released the EP "R.S.V.P" and the live album Party Live '85 on their own Dizzy label, while continuing to tour Canada and the US throughout the remainder of the 1980s. Max Styles left the band in approximately 1982.

Comebacks[link]

The late 1980s were a difficult period for The Kings as they lost their drummer and their record label. As it were, the group was on the verge of a major revival as the single "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" became a huge radio hit in Chicago getting major play on all of the main rock stations: Classic rock WCKG, Alternative rock WXRT, and Mainstream Rock WLUP, as well as Top 40 powerhouse WLS-AM. The unavailability of the Kings records led Chicago DJ Bob Stroud of WLUP to record his own version of the single with his band Rockestra [1]. Elektra Records unfortunately remained unaware of the burgeoning hit and never reissued the single or album.

The single "Parting Of The Ways" appeared on Bullseye Records compilation Unsigned, Sealed and Delivered in 1991. This comeback prompted The Kings to return to the studio to record Unstoppable produced by John Punter, David Diamond and Mister Zero in 1993. Unstoppable produced several hits in Canada including "Lesson To Learn", "Shoulda Been Me", "Tonight I Got You", "Parting Of The Ways", and the title track "Unstoppable". A phone call in 1999 from Mister Zero to Alan Fletcher at Warner Canada led to the green light needed for Warner to re-issue The Kings Are Here..and More which allowed fans to get their hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" on CD, which was fully remastered from the original 2 track tapes by Zero . ...and More also contained a few re-mixed tracks from Unstoppable and two previously unreleased tracks -"If The Stars Come Out Tonight" and "Right To The Top". A remixed and more mature version of "If The Stars Come Out Tonight" appeared on Because Of You released in 2003. Combined original sales and cd sales have passed the platinum mark in Canada but no certification is allowed because of the bonus tracks on the cd, which are the only way the band makes money from that project.

Throughout the remainder of the 1990s, The Kings continued to tour and play live shows around Toronto, but Sonny Keyes' role with The Kings diminished and only Mister Zero and David Diamond remain as permanent members from the original lineup. Sonny Keyes continued to contribute when called upon by Zero and Diamond.

Drummer Atilla Turi and keyboard players Peter Nunn and Rich Roxborough joined Mister Zero and David Diamond on the 2003 Bullseye Records release "Because Of You" (Josh Broadbent - Diamond's son - was also recruited into The Kings to contribute his vocals). "Because Of You" would be The Kings' strongest effort to date with Harry Hess recording alongside producers Zero and Diamond. A video was made for the title track, "It's Up To You" and "The Fools Are In Love" was re-mixed from the Amazon Beach release. Sonny Keyes co-wrote "A Way You'll Never Be" with Mister Zero.

A reunion of the original lineup of The Kings occurred in the winter of 2001 with Max Styles and Sonny Keyes joining their old mates for Alan Frew's (Glass Tiger) children benefit concert for Camp Trillium in Toronto. They played the benefit concert again in 2002.

In late 2005 The Kings had a full length reunion concert in Toronto which was filmed for inclusion in the DVD documentary being assembled by Mister Zero.^[1] The first part of this film to be seen is the incredible video for This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide, released October 2006, which gets thousands of plays on YouTube.^[3]

Another focus for The Kings was to put as many songs as possible on iTunes, thus having the catalog available worldwide instantly. The album The Kings Anthology One is the latest addition, 12 songs from different eras including never before heard epic rockers from Whistleking.

In to 2008, The Kings continue to play live shows across southern Ontario and, from time to time, the northern United States. The Kings are also finishing new songs for their next studio album.

Lineups[link]

The Kings 1977 - 1982

1. David Diamond (vocals, bass)
2. Mister Zero (guitar)
3. Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
4. Max Styles (drums)

The Kings 1982 - 1999

1. David Diamond (vocals, bass)
2. Mister Zero (guitar)
3. Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
4. Peter Nunn (1994) (keyboards)
5. Marty Cordrey, Whitey Glan, Gary Craig, Randall Coryell, Greg Chritchley, Atilla Turi (drums)
6. Josh Broadbent (vocals)

The Kings 1999 - 2005

1. David Diamond (vocals, bass)
2. Mister Zero (guitar)
3. Atilla Turi (drums)
4. Peter Nunn (keyboards)
5. Rich Roxborough (keyboards)
6. Josh Broadbent (vocals)

The Kings 2005–present

1. David Diamond (vocals, bass)
2. Mister Zero (guitar)
3. Atilla Turi (drums)
4. Peter Nunn (keyboards)
5. Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
6. Peter Kadar (keyboards)
7. Josh Broadbent (vocals)
8. Todd Reynolds (Drums)

Discography[link]

• The Kings Are Here album (Elektra, 1980)
• Amazon Beach album (Elektra, 1981)
• R.S.V.P [4-Song EP] (Dizzy, 1982)
• Party Live '85 live album (Dizzy, 1985)
• Parting Of The Ways single (1991)
• Unstoppable CD (Dizzy, 1993)
• Unstoppable [W/This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide added] CD (Griffin, 1995)
• The Kings Are Here..and More CD (Warner, 2000)
• The Kings Are Here/Amazon Beach (2 on 1 CD, Wounded Bird, 2003)
• Because Of You CD (2003)
• Anthology One CD (2006)

See also[link]

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Kings Official website
• Bullseye Records
• The Kings: Anatomy of a One-Hit Wonder DVD review