Leaves Blowin in the Wind - My Pyroflam Blue Leaf Collection (Corning Ware from The Netherlands)

So....  In memory of my little sojourn to London England in 1999, I decided that it would be fun to collect some actual British "CorningWare" which, across the pond, is known as either Pyrosil Ware or Pyroflam, depending on when and where it was manufactured.  Granted, Pyrosil Ware and Pyroflam were never made in Britain, it was made in Corning's plant in the Netherlands to be sold on the English market.

Originally, Corning Ware was manufactured in the United States and exported to Britain. These are usually stamped as "Pyrosil Ware" on the bottom and feature the famed Cornflower. After Corning's Netherlander plant began production, the stamps remained "Pyrosil Ware" for a while, but were changed to Pyroflam at some point, though I am not sure exactly when.  This is the point where the blue leaf pattern emerged... Most of the other patterns were direct copies of what was being produced in the United States, but there are a few that are distinctly from the Netherlands Plant... 

The model numbers are different, for they are in Imperial Units.  This is most evident in the 2 1/2 quart Saucepan.  It is marked as PF-4 because it holds 4 British Pints... British pints are larger than American  Pints being 20 oz versus 16 oz.  Thus, 4 x 20 =  80 oz... which is 2 1/2 quarts (P-2 1/2-B)

The Teapot remains a mystery to me.... Then again, this is a 6 cup teapot, which in the United States was a P-104, which is no reflection on the amount that it holds.  SO... .I guess they just drew a number out of the hat.

So far, these are the only 2 pieces I have found in the thrift stores.  It is readily available on eBay UK, but the shipping from England is atrocious.  I doubt very much that this collection will grow all that much.  Then again, I never thought that I would find it in a thrift store on the West Coast of the United States either. (stranger things have happened)

Where is your Pyroflam or PyrosilWare??
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There is Nothing Nouveau Under the Sun - A Princess House Exclusive Arcoflam from France (by ARC)

I have been debating whether or not to post about this, but it IS "Pyroceram", or at least some form of Ceramic Glass Cookware, just like Corning Ware...  

This is Nouveau...   A Princess House Exclusive.

Made even more exclusive by the fact that it is no longer available in the United States at all, and the only piece available in Australia is a 3.5 quart oval baking dish. This piece in particular is the 10 1/2 inch Saute pan... Which is a piece I have always wished was available in the Corning Ware line. 

Made by in France by ARC, International; purveyors of other ARC-centric glassware goods such as Cristal d'Arques (crystal), Luminarc (transparent), Arcoroc (tempered) & Arcopal (opal) and yes, Arcoflam (vitroceram) cookware.  Which just happens to be what is embossed upon the very locking mechanism of the accompanying handle.

So, though Princess House had exclusive rights to this particular design, the actual product is Arcoflam, made of vitroceram in France by ARC, International who also just happens to have exclusive rights to produce Pyrex in Europe.  However, this licensing agreement didn't happen until 2005.

Now, I don't know if ARC owns the infamous Avon, France plant that began producing Pyroflam after the Netherlander plant closed down (who were making Pyrosil and Pyroflam for the European market), because this company is not really based in Avon, but in Arques; as evident from their original company name "Verrerie Cristallerie d’Arques".

Whether this is actually Corning Ware or, like Narumi's Neoceram, the result of the inevitable foray all glass companies make into the realm of ceramic glass, I have no idea.  But I thought it was interesting enough to begin amassing at least a small collection.  After all, though it may, or may not, be Corning's "Corning Ware" it IS ceramic glass, and that alone makes it pretty darned awesome in my book.

The only issue I have at this point is lack of knowledge.  My 1 1/2 quart saucepan and 1 quart casserole are both missing their lids.  Since I think it's safe to assume that they were not as "domed" as the lid for the Saute pan/steamer, that sort of leaves me in the dark as to what they DID look like.

One of the things I like the most about this Nouveau, is how flat the bottoms are, without being "ground" like Corning Ware was.  They are so flat, that when wet, they actually stick to my counter top. 

If anyone has any more information on Princess House Nouveau, please feel free to share.  

Where is your Corning Ware??
~~

Update:  I found an article in the LA Times dates November 20, 1986.... Evidently Arcoflam hit the Main Stream Market at that time.  I still do not know how long it was available from Princess house before this happened.

Pretty Pretty Princess House - Nouveau by Arcoflam (France)

I remember, when I was a kid, before we moved out to the farm, the circle that we lived on was awash with home parties.  It was the mid 70's and it was all the rage.  Tupperware parties, Home Interior parties, and Princess House parties.

Many of the women on the street populated their homes with products from these parties....  Thus, many of the interiors of the homes on the street looked disturbingly similar.   I remember the Princess House parties most vividly, because there was a lot of crystal and bone china, so children were NOT allowed int he room amongst the breakables.  Mom's formal stemware (Esprite) came from Princess House, as did her frosted clematis dessert plates (Fantasia).   She even had a English bone china coffee pot and to cups (Windsor Rose).

Unlike Pampered Chef and some other companies that sell via the same "home party" formula, Princess House did not manufacture their own products, they would contract with companies to make products for them.  This is evidenced by the tea pot I mentioned.  The bottom was marked "Hammersley and Co.", a well known English bone china manufacturer who was also contracted by Tiffany & Co., on occasion, to make pieces for them.

The reason for all this background on Princess House is that I recently found a piece of "Corningware" produced for said "house of Princessness", though I do not know what the time frame of availability was, because we had moved to the farm in 1977 and Mom stopped having parties for such things.   I only found out about it's existence back in 2007 when I began hunting down vintage Corningware pieces in thrift stores.

The cooking line was called Nouveau, though technically, there was nothing "New" about it, except maybe the shape and the fact that it came from France instead of Corning Consumer Products Division in the United States.

It was produced by ARC (who also make Luminarc glassware and Arcoroc dinnerware) in France under the Arcoflam name, then shipped back to the U.S. to be sold at Princess House parties.  The shape is sort of a faceted round and the handles attach differently than original or current Corningware/Pyrosil/Pyroflam.  There is a large square "lug" on one end used for handle attachment.

Here is a picture of the handle used on Nouveau....

You place the handle over the lug and squeeze the trigger.

If you look really close, you can see the Arcoflam name on the clamping trigger.

To release the handle, you simply press the button on the side of the handle.

The formula for Nouveau is slightly different from Vintage Corningware.  It's still a Ceramic Glass (Vitro-Ceramic), but the formulation is more inline with what is currently used on smooth cook tops, both radiant and induction.  But for all intents and purposes, regardless of who is licensing what from whom and where the who is manufacturing under which product name and how it's sold....  it's still "Corningware". 

Where is your Corningware??
~~

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Neoceram - First Neoceram Find???

It has finally happened, or at least I think it has.

As I have divulged earlier, Corningware products produced in France for other markets other than the United States were sold under the name Pyroflam or Arcoflam instead of "Corningware" or "Pyroceram".  (though in the early years, when manufactured in the Netherlands, they were marked "Pyrosil Ware" for U.K. consumers)

That being said, I think I have run across my very first piece of foreign made Corning/Pyroflam/Pyrosil Ware. 

The shape is different than what I normally see on the U.S. Market, but the shapes sold in Europe are different than what was available here as well.  It does have handles that are the same size as "P" series pieces in the United States, meaning they are narrower than the later post-1972 handles.  But I don't know if (or when)  foreign market Corningware made a "handle-size change"

It has a "flame" on the bottom which makes me believe it is older Pyroflam from the Asia-Pacific region, but there is no way for me to ultimately tell, since I cannot read the language.   Maybe this is a piece of Anchor Hocking Cookware. (yep, Anchor Hocking had a "Corningware type" product that was pulled from the U.S. market because they lost a court battle with Corning over patent infringement)

Evidently, a well traveled piece.

UPDATE:  02/16/2014 - A fellow enthusiast from a Facebook group happened across another piece of this particular cookware.  Though the design was different, it was the same shape and had the same foreign language on the bottom.   Luckily, her piece also included the name of the company in English as well.  So now I know that this is Neoceram made by Narumi.  Not Corningware at all.

Narumi is a Bone China Manufacturer in Japan that "invented" a ceramic glass product of their own in 1962.  The formulation of Neoceram is slightly different from "Corningware" and "Visions".  The differences in formulation are small but Neoceram contains Phosphorus Pentoxide and lacks the Zinc Oxide & Ferric Oxide found in Corningware.

UPDATE:  03/26/2014 - New evidence has come to light regarding the FIRE & ICE brand of ceramic glass cookware that Mikasa use to sell in the late 80s.  This product, made in Japan, may have been constructed of Narumi's Neoceram formula...  Narumi had been producing some of Mikasa's china already, as evident in their Bolero pattern.......

UPDATE: 9/24/2014
Another piece of Narumi Neoceram.

Same shape (though slightly deeper) as the Vegetable pattern above, however this piece has absolutely nothing printed on it.

The patter looks like an extreme close up watercolor interpretation of Corning Ware's Wildflower pattern.

Interesting.  But what makes this pattern even more interesting, is that this pattern, known as "Just Flowers" was the replacement pattern for Sears' Merry Mushroom (which was made by Corning, of course). 

This IS indeed Narumi Neoceram, and the china pattern that matches was also available from "Mikasa/Narumi"

Here is a picture of what I call the Avocado Tulip pattern.  I think this particular design is significantly older (1960s) than either the Vegetable or the Wildflower-ish pattern.

I also found, what I believe to be, another pattern on Ebay recently done in a wrap around fruit design.

Where is your Corningware?? or Fire & Ice?? or Narumi??
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