Published by: Gourmet Sleuth Last Updated: 12/20/2018
Mildred and Rafi Mottahedeh wed in 1929. Both had been collectors before they were married. They combined their collections and opened Mottahedeh and Company in 1929. Their extensive personal collection include Chinese Export as well as other Oriental porcelain pieces. They based their reproductions on pieces in their own collection. They also produced reproductions from the collections at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Arts as well as the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.1 Mottaheded sold their products through Tiffany as well as other high-end boutiques include Gumps in San Francisco. They later expanded sales throughout the U.S. There are still Mottahedeh pieces used in the Whitehouse today.
Mildred Mottahedeh sold the company in 1998 and passed away in 2000. Her husband, Rafi, passed away before her in 1978. The company still produces the same high-end porcelain as they did in the past. Most of their production is done in Portugal and Italy.
We can document that Mottahedeh has been producing replicas of old, original pot de creme sets back to at least 1962 although we think (not confirmed yet) that they produced the early Musee des Arts reproductions even earlier. We have catalog pages that show cups and trays of the Ermine tail and Musee des Arts patterns. Both of these patterns are creamware (not hard porcelain) and both produced in Italy. Of those two patterns; only the Musee des Arts patterns are still produced today.
Mottahedeh has produced many different styles of pot de creme cup over the years. Over time, most were discontinued. Today you can still purchase the classic Musee des Arts pont aux choux pattern. You can purchase cups, trays and saucers.
Prosperity - copies of all white English Staffordshire pieces.
Blue Canton - copies of classic blue and white Chinese Export pieces.
Duke of Gloucester - Reproduction of the Royal English service. Hand painted to look antique. The pattern is fruit clusters with ladybugs and butterflies We still have some stock of new pieces you can by clicking the link above. Produced in Portugal by Vista Alegre.
Emerald Vine - Also produced by Vista Alegre in Portugal. The pattern is a reproduction of a Chinese Export design with the classic twisted branch handle. The gold trim has been painted to appear to be antique. This pot de creme is pictured at the top of this page.
We continue to see old Mottahedeh reproductions from the past. We try to add them to our museum as possible. You can see a few examples at the bottom of this page. We also stock some vintage Mottahedeh pots de creme here: Shop pots de creme at Gourmetsleuth.com.