Meissen Porcelain of the 18th Century.
The great secret and success story of the Far East, porcelain was discovered a thousand years before the establishment of the ceramics industry in the West. Its properties were envied and widely imitated, but never matched, and its quality far outstripped that of early Western ceramic production, which was based on stoneware.
The first examples of Chinese porcelain arrived in Europe in the early 1500s and caused a near-revolution in the ceramics world, resulting in a thriving export industry from the East that had far-reaching effects on trade. Today, examples of fine-quality porcelain from both the East and the West command the highest prices, and many museums around the world have outstanding collections.
Early Meissen
Imported from the Middle Ages through trade with China, Oriental porcelain was a rare and expensive commodity in Europe. As demand for (and imports of) porcelain became greater, alchemists in the courts of Europe attempted to discover the formula to create “true”, or hard-paste, porcelain. The production of the first European hard-paste porcelain was the result of a collaboration between the alchemist Johann Friedrich Bottger (1682-1719) and the scientist Flurcriftied Walther von Tschirnhausen ( 1651-1708) at the court of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, in Dresden.
EXPERIMENTAL WARES
Bottger had become famous for his claims that he was on the brink of producing artificial gold. His experiments in this regard failed, but his fame and talents were such that Augustus seized Bottger after he fled from Prussia to Saxony and ordered him to help in von Tschirnhausen’s porcelain experiments. The basic formula, which was discovered c.1706-7, produced a fine, brownish-red stoneware. After further experimentation in 1708, Bottger finally v produced a white hard paste, and in 1710 Augustus established Europe’s first hard-paste porcelain factory in the Albrechtsburg, a palace in Meissen.
Bottger’s stoneware was an extremely hard and finely textured material, and is sometimes described as “Jaspisporzellan” (”jasper porcelain”) because of its resemblance to hardstone. The types of ware produced included and coffee- and teapots, bowls, teacups, and teajars, often imitating Oriental porcelain. One of the first artists to be involved in the modelling of this stoneware was the court goldsmith Johann Jakob Irminger (1635-1724), and maro, stoneware pieces were based on gold and silver designs. As the material was so hard, typical decoration included polishing or faceting -techniques derived from gem-cutting - although lacquering, enamelling, and gilding were also used.
EARLY PORCELAIN
Early Meissen porcelain (”Bottgerporzellan”), first produced commercially c.17 L3, generally followed the stoneware forms, but technical developments at the factory led to a greater range of ss ares: statuettes of dwarves and saints, copies of Chinese Mane-de-Chine wares, and “pagoda” figures. The porcelain was often left white to display the precious material, but some pieces have moulded leaf or floral borders, thickly applied and clumsily drawn polychrome enamels, or gilt or silvered scrollwork borders. While all Bottger porcelain is rare, figures and enamelled pieces are particularly scarce.
During the 1720s there were rapid technical and artistic advances in the development of porcelain at Meissen, due in part to the arrival in 1720 of the colour-chemist and painter Johann Gregorius Horoldt (1696-1775). In the early v 1720s, under his leadership, a new source of clay was found from which a slightly creamy white paste was produced. This was used to make a much wider range of wares, including vases, garnitures, bottles copied from Japanese originals, and small vessels with covers, as well as tea and coffeewares.
During the 1720s Horoldt perfected the enamelling process, increasing the range of
colours. Until the early 1730s the’ factory owed its success to the skilled painters who copied or adapted Oriental porcelain decoration and eventually developed a distinctive European style of painting. In the , i rly 1720s, underglaze blue decoration was used for copying Chinese originals in the style of wares made during the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722), and polychrome enamels were employed for making exact copies of Chinese and Japanese wares, including those in the Imari and Kakicinon palettes. Horoldt also produced his own designs for vignettes and chinoiserie scenes. During the mid-1720s the first European-style landscape decoration was introduced; the scenes are typically set within heavy gilt scrollwork cartouches, often embellished with coloured enamels. The factory also introduced Kauffahrtei (”sea trade”) scenes of quaysides, although these became more common in the 1730s.
Meissen figures and services
From the early 1730s beautifully modelled and painted figures and table services were produced at the Meissen porcelain factory in Germany, establishing its reputation as the pre-eminent porcelain factory in Europe. The extensive range of figures and wares was characterized by an extraordinary virtuosity of modelling, lively expression, and sense of movement, and remains a testimony to the skill of the painters, modellers, and other artisans employed. The factory dominated the mid-18th-century style of porcelain, and Meissen wares Lind figures were imitated by craftsmen at other porcelain factories throughout Europe.
EARLY FIGURES
Small figures used to decorate the dining-tables of the wealthy were originally modelled in sugar, wax, or gum by cooks and confectioners. Demand for pieces in a more permanent material led to the production of the first porcelain figures at Meissen in 1727, when the modeller Johann Gottlieb Kirchner (1706–after 1738) was appointed the first chief modeller. Kirchner initially produced figures of saints and animals in a strong Baroque style. In the same year Frederick-Augustus 1, Elector of Saxony (known as “Augustus the Strong”),entrusted him with the task of creating 910 monumental figures of animals and birds to decorate his Japanese Palace in Dresden, specially built to accommodate his vast collection of Oriental porcelain. However, the thick body of the porcelain meant that pieces tended to crack or even completely collapse in the kiln. The most famous Meissen modeller,
Johann Joachim Kandler (1706-75), joined the factory in 1731 to assist Kirchner, but he too could not solve the technical problems. These difficulties and the high cost of producing such works encouraged Kandler to experiment with the production of small-scale figures.
LATER FIGURES
In 1733 Kandler was appointed chief modeller at Meissen, and during the 1730s and 1740s he was responsible for some of the finest individual figures and groups ever made there. Kandler’s early figures have a wonderful sense of liveliness and movement unmatched by his imitators. They are vigorously modelled, dramatic, and sculptural, and make flamboyant or theatrical gestures. Among the extraordinary range of subjects were exotic birds, figures from distant lands, couples in romantic or chivalric poses (known as “crinoline” groups), and humorous depictions of court jesters. Some of the best-known and most popular figures by Kandler are the characters such as Harlequin, Columbine, and ScaramOLIche from the connniediar dell’arte, the Italian theatre tradition. Kandler also depicted street vendors in two series called the “Cris dc Paris” and the “Cris do Londres”, some of which were inspired by prints based on the drawings of the French artists Latrine BOLIcharclon and Christophe IT act. Sonic of these figures were produced in collaboration with other highly skilled modellers who joined the factory in the mid-18th century: Johann Friedrich Eberlein (169,5-1749), Friedrich Elias Meyer (1723-85), and Peter Reinicke (1715-68).
In the mid-18th century the fashion for the Baroque style declined, to be replaced by the delicate, lighthearted Rococo style. Figures of lovers in idyllic pastoral settings, as well as allegorical and mythological figures representing the seasons, the months, and Classical gods and goddesses, were made in keeping with the new, more romantic, frivolous style. From c.1750 to 1755 the factory made smaller-scale figures, which were painted with such pastel colours as pale mauve, lemon yellow, and soft green. The simple, flower-encrusted pad or rockivork bases that had been employed during the 1730s and 1740s were abandoned in the 1750s in favour of more elaborately scrolled bases.
Africa and Asia by Meyer Allegorical figures and groups representing the seasons and the continents were particularly popular during the Rococo period In this group, Africa is represented by a black putts, wearing an elephant-shaped head-dress and seated on a lion, while Asia is depicted as a white putts, wearing a jewelled necklace - two contrasting depictions that are very much a European fantasy of the inhabitants of these two continents The highly scrolled base and somewhat elongated heads are typical features of Meyer’s work and of mid-18thcentury Meissen figures. Although Meyer’s figures are of very high quality, they are riot as collectable as those by Kandler.
TABLEWARES AND SERVICES
In addition to figures, Kandler and his team of designers and modellers created an extensive range of dinner services, tea and coffee services, centrepieces, candlesticks, ladies’ toilet sets, and other useful and decorative wares. By the 1730s Meissen porcelain had become extremely fashionable throughout Europe, and the factory received many commissions.
The commission for Meissen’s largest, most famous, and beautifully modelled service, known as the “Swan” service, came in 1736 from the factory’s director, Count Heinrich von Bruhl, who had recently married. Each plate, painted with the coat of arms of the Count and his new, wife, is exquisitely modelled in low relief with a design of swans, herons, pelicans, and rushes, while the tureens are of sumptuous curving forms incorporating an elaborate design of dolphins, mermaids, and other marine creatures. The Count’s name, which translates as “swampy meadow” or “marshy ground”, may have inspired the theme.
The exquisite and imaginative decoration that the printer and chemist Johann Gregorius Horoldt (1696-1775) had brought to early Meissen wares continued during the 1730s. From 1729 Augustus the Strong commissioned the factory painters to make
copies of his collection of Oriental porcelain, and they adapted the decoration on Japanese Kakiemon wares and Chinese famille-verse wares to create a new style of decoration known as indianisa-bic Blumen
(”Indian flowers”), so called because much Oriental porcelain was exported into Europe by the Fist India Companies. In the early 1730s, land- and cityscapes framed with heavy gilt scrollwork
or interlaced strapwork borders were a popular alternative to dower decoration, but from c.1735 battle scenes and hunting subjects inspired by the French painter Antoine Watteau were favoured. V ith the development of the Rococo style the popularity of flower decoration increased, and European flowers were used fit painted designs.
The painter Johann Gottlieb Klinger (active 1731-46) was the best-known exponent of this style. At first petals, leaves, and stems were very precisely depicted, as the painters followed botanical prints; the design was enlivened with scattered insects and butterflies. The relaxed attitude of the Rococo led to the use of more naturalistic sprays or bouquets in a style known as deutsche Blumen (”German flowers”). By the mid-1750s this style had been replaced by looser representations of scattered flowers, described as NFiretacriblumen (”mannered flowers”).
Academic and Marcolini
After the end of the Seven Years War (1756-63) there was a period of decline at the Meissen factory, due to the deprivations of the war and the loss of several important painters and modellers. Meissen’s share of the burgeoning European porcelain market was further reduced as Austria and Prussia banned Meissen imports, and Britain, France, and Russia placed high tariffs on imported Meissen pieces in order to protect domestic production. Meissen lost its place as the dominant force of innovation, originality, and quality to other factories such as those in Berlin, Vienna, and Sevres, which it often now attempted to imitate.
THE DOT/ACADEMIC PERIOD
The period 1763 to 1774 is generally known as the “Dot” period, because the mark used at this time consisted of the familiar crossed swords with a dot added between their hilts, or the “Academic” period, because much of the factory’s output lacked originality. The factory continued to manufacture figures and wares in the mid-18th-century style hat, in a poorer-quality paste, these did not match the standard of earlier pieces. There were few innovations in the design and decoration of tableware in this period, with flowers the most popular painted subject. A debased form of deutsche Blumen (”German flowers”), these bouquets can be distinguished from earlier Meis-cnn painting by the often “painterly” style, the pale palette with a predominance of pink tones, and the smaller-scale and often scattered flowers, following the style of Sevres.
Figures were often reproduced from moulds dating from the 1730s but lack the bolder, lively decoration of the originals; the palette is sometimes pale and lacklustre, and intricate, fussy patterns
often appear. The Neo-classical style, characterized by simple, geometrical forms and the use of Greek and Roman architectural ornament, was introduced to Meissen by the French sculptor Michel-Victor Acier (1736-99), appointed to work as chief modeller with Kindler. Acier produced small-scale, sentimental figure groups characterized by stiffer modelling in line with file restrained character of the Neo-classical style.
THE MARCOLINI PERIOD
In 1774 Count Camillo Marcolini (1739-1814) was appointed director of Meissen; under his leadership Neoclassicism was more wholeheartedly adopted and the quality greatly improved. Biscuit porcelain was favoured for allegorical or Classical figures, because it resembled the marble used for ancient Classical sculpture. In the I 790s the modeller Johann Carl Schonheit (1767-1805) made figures in the Sevres style after such sculptors as Etienne Falconer.
The Neo-classical taste is also reflected in the forms and decoration of the tableware. Cylindrical coffee-cups with angular handles and covers seem to have been used for display and presentation rather than for drinking. Marcolini also introduced a wider range of very fine decoration that included mythological and pastoral scenes, portraits and landscapes, and, later, portrait medallions, topographical landscapes, and details of paintings. Flower-painting also continued during this period. The bouquets were often large and dense and somewhat stiffly painted, with fewer scattered flowers than in the designs of the 1760s.
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