Beaker vase ca. 1713–20 Meissen Manufactory German This vase, one of the first pieces of porcelain produced at Meissen, embodies the qualities that made porcelain so desirable to Europeans during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when porcelain was still an unfamiliar and exotic medium. Its whiteness and translucency distinguished the vase dramatically from the earthenwares and stonewares that were the common ceramic bodies in Europe. The only true porcelains available to Europeans prior to the discovery of porcelain at Meissen in 1708–10 were those imported from China and Japan,

Beaker vase ca. 1713–20 Meissen Manufactory German This vase, one of the first pieces of porcelain produced at Meissen, embodies the qualities that made porcelain so desirable to Europeans during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when porcelain was still an unfamiliar and exotic medium. Its whiteness and translucency distinguished the vase dramatically from the earthenwares and stonewares that were the common ceramic bodies in Europe. The only true porcelains available to Europeans prior to the discovery of porcelain at Meissen in 1708–10 were those imported from China and Japan, and the attempts in Europe prior to this time produced an artificial or soft-paste porcelain that did not possess the qualities of a true, high-fired porcelain body (see ).The events leading to Meissen’s production of porcelain as a result of the experiments carried out by Johann Friedrich Böttger (German, 1682–1719) have been well documented.[1] Böttger’s initial efforts produced a dense red stoneware that combined fusible clays fired at high temperatures, and these latter two elements were the primary requirements for the production of a true or hard-paste porcelain body (see ). Böttger worked simultaneously to improve the quality of the red-stoneware body and to manufacture white porcelain, and by March 1709, he was able to report success in producing porcelain, as well as a successful glaze for it.[2] These accomplishments led to the official establishment of the Meissen factory in 1710, and its red stoneware was presented that same year for sale at the annual Leipzig Easter Fair, as well as samples of porcelain, which were available for display only.[3] The next three years were spent improving the porcelain body, and the factory was able to sell porcelain for the first time at the Easter Fair in öttger’s ability to manufacture porcelain resulted from his discovery of suitable ingredients to allow china clay, known as kaolin, to

How we Work

Contribute

Legal

Contact Us