Tulip vase from a garniture ca. 1725 Vienna Established in 1718 in Vienna by Claudius Innocentius Du Paquier (d. 1751), the Du Paquier factory was the second in Europe to produce hard- paste porcelain.[1] Since the factory did not have the knowledge of the necessary ingredients or kiln technology to make porcelain, Du Paquier required the expertise of someone from Meissen, the only factory with the capability at this time. Through an intermediary in 1717 Du Paquier enticed Christoph Conrad Hunger (Germany, dates unknown), who was working at Meissen, to assist in his endeavors, and in May of th

Tulip vase from a garniture ca. 1725 Vienna Established in 1718 in Vienna by Claudius Innocentius Du Paquier (d. 1751), the Du Paquier factory was the second in Europe to produce hard- paste porcelain.[1] Since the factory did not have the knowledge of the necessary ingredients or kiln technology to make porcelain, Du Paquier required the expertise of someone from Meissen, the only factory with the capability at this time. Through an intermediary in 1717 Du Paquier enticed Christoph Conrad Hunger (Germany, dates unknown), who was working at Meissen, to assist in his endeavors, and in May of the following year Du Paquier received a privilege from the Habsburg Emperor Charles VI (1685–1740) for the production of “porcelain, majolica, and similar fine Indian wares” for a twenty- five-year period.[2] Technical mastery had not been achieved by the date of the imperial privilege, however, and it took the involvement of another worker from Meissen, Samuel Stöltzel (German, 1685–1737), to bring about improvements in both the porcelain paste and its successful firing. The young factory encountered numerous obstacles in its first few years, and not until the early 1720s were the technical challenges largely overcome. It is a testament to the desirability and commercial value of porcelain that an entrepreneur, such as Du Paquier, without firsthand knowledge of ceramic production, would persevere in his attempts to establish a porcelain factory despite multiple setbacks during the first several years in vase was originally part of a remarkable garniture that celebrated Du Paquier’s accomplishment. As garnitures typically were composed of an odd number of vases, it is almost certain that the original set numbered five, of which four vases in two different sizes are known today.[3] The painted decoration and inscriptions on each vase explicitly extol the superiority of Du Paquier’s porcelain over that produced in China, and each vase signals the new do

How we Work

Contribute

Legal

Contact Us