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EUROPEAN PORCELAIN TO THE END OF THE ...
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See also:EUROPEAN See also:PORCELAIN TO THE END OF THE 18TH
See also:CENTURY
See also:Europe can claim no See also:share in the See also:discovery of See also:porcelain, the See also: Efforts were made at See also:Plymouth and at See also:Bristol (1758–1781) to introduce the manufacture of porcelain, like the Chinese and its See also:German counterparts, but these failed and the English potters finally invented a third See also:kind of porcelain, in which calcined ox-bones were added to the See also:clay and ground See also:rock to give a white trans-lucent porcelain capable of receiving any See also:form of decoration . This distinctively English porcelain, perfected about 1800, is not only the See also:principal kind made in England in our own times, but its manufacture has been adopted, to some extent in France, Germany and See also:Sweden, as well as in the See also:United States . It is impossible to describe these various efforts of European potters without a certain amount of overlapping, for during the 18th century all the three kinds of European porcelain were struggling for supremacy . It is advisable, therefore, to keep clearly in mind which kind of porcelain is in question, for many problems of manufacture and decoration are absolutely deter-See also:mined by the nature of the materials . If we could See also:trust to documentary See also:evidence alone, the earliest European porcelains were made at See also:Venice in 1470, and again in 1519; while we also read of its manufacture at See also:Ferrara in 1561.1 Unfortunately, documentary evidence alone is not conclusive,. and the first European porcelain, known from actual specimens as well as by documentary evidence, was that made at See also:Florence in the laboratory of See also:Francesco de' See also:Medici, between 1575 and 1585 . Specimens of this rare porcelain are to be found only in great museums and private collections, where they See also:rank among our See also:chief ceramic treasures . They show clearly that the Florentine potters never fully mastered their difficult material, for the ware is always imperfect and compares indifferently in whiteness and translucence with See also:fine porcelain, while the glaze is neither smoothly melted nor See also:free from defects . Obviously the effect of Chinese See also:blue and white porcelain was aimed at, the decorations, reminiscent of the See also:style of the Persian pot-painters, being executed in See also:cobalt blue alone . These rare and interesting pieces See also:bear distinctive marks; for at their See also:period the use of painters' marks or monograms had become fairly general on See also:artistic pottery in Europe . One of the best known marks is the " palle " or balls of the arms of the Medici See also:family, bearing the letters " F M M E D II." for " Franciscus Medici See also:Magnus A FA Etruriae See also:Dux II."; while other pieces have a Florentine See also:rude See also:representation of the Great See also:Dome of Florence Potter'smark. and the See also:letter " F." Fortunately, too, besides the few specimens of Florentine porcelain that have survived to our See also:day a See also:manuscript has been 1 See See also:Drake, See also:Sir W., Venetian See also:Ceramics; and Davillier, See also:Baron Ch., See also:Les Origins de la porcelain en Europe . found in the Magliabechian Library at Florence which states that the See also:paste was composed of 24 parts of See also:sand, 16 of a glass (powdered rock crystal 10 and soda 8), and 12 parts white See also:earth of See also:Faenza . To 12 parts of this mixture 3 parts of the kaolinic clay of See also:Vicenza were to be added, and the pieces glazed with a See also:lead glaze, or sometimes with the See also:tin-See also:enamel of the See also:Italian See also:faience maker .
We are in the presence, therefore, of a material unlike Chinese porcelain in every respect, the Florentine porcelain being the first of a See also:long See also:line of European porcelains the artistic qualities of which were obtained by mixing a large quantity of glass with a small quantity of clay, so that they may almost be regarded as a See also:species of glazed and painted glass
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The technical methods used in their manufacture and decoration, however, were those of the potter and not of the glass maker
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With the See also:death of Francesco de' Medici in 1587 it seems probable that this wonderful innovation came to an untimely end, and we hear no more of porcelain in Italy for more than a century
.
During this century (1587–1687) there can be no doubt that efforts were made all over Europe to discover the See also:secret of porcelain manufacture; but the first reliable date we can point to is 1693, when See also:
The first
efforts appear to have consisted in See also:frank imitations .~•— of the much-prized See also:Oriental wares, and white pieces decorated only with branches of flowering See also:plum in See also:relief, or pieces modelled with imbricated or See also:scale See also:pattern or with delicate flutings, were made
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The earliest See also:colour decoration was naturally in under-glaze blue, and while quasi-oriental designs were largely used, the commonest feature is the prevalence of painted See also:borders like those used on the faience of Rouen and St Cloud
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At a later date decoration in over-glaze See also:colours and See also:gilding was also employed, and though the ware never reached to such a See also:pitch of excellence as that of the Royal Manufactory at Sevres, the St Cloud porcelain is one of the most distinctive French porcelains of the 18th century
.
German Porcelains.—While the glassy porcelains of France were being developed at St Cloud, success of a more permanent See also:order was reached in Germany
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See also:Augustus the Strong, elector of Saxony (1670-1733), had formed an extensive collection of Chinese and See also:Japanese porcelains, still to be seen in the See also:Dresden Museum, and he had established experimental pottery works, bringing skilled potters from See also: Bottger died in 1719, having had the rare See also:fortune, in his See also:short and eventful See also:life, to establish in Europe the manufacture of true porcelain . The life of Bottger reads like a See also:page of See also:romance, and the See also:story of the subsequent development of porcelain manufacture throughout the German See also:empire is hardly less romantic . When the importance of Bottger's discovery was recognized, he and his workmen were removed from Dresden to the Albrechtsburg, a fortress situated at Meissen some 16 m. away, so that the manufacture could be conducted with the greatest secrecy . All concerned were practically See also:state prisoners, and this extreme rigour doubtless defeated the end in view, for workmen escaped from time to time, and professing, more or less truthfully, a knowledge of the manufacture, found patrons among the German princes all eager to gain reputation as experimenters in the new art of porcelain . Some of these wandering " Arcanists," like Ringler and See also:Hunger, and the men who learnt from them, travelled all over the empire, and the following See also:list of See also:dates will show how porcelain factories sprang up from the See also:parent factory at Meissen: Meissen . . 1710 St See also:Petersburg 1744 See also:Vienna . 1718 See also:Berlin . . . 1750 See also:Ansbach . . . . 1718 See also:Nymphenburg . 1758 See also:Bayreuth . . . . 1720 See also:Ludwigsburg . . 1758 Meissen.—Although the factory which was founded at Meissen as a result of Bottger's discovery remained on its old site until 1863, the porcelain made there has been commonly known as Dresden porcelain; probably because Dresden was the seat of the Saxon court, and the enterprise was conducted at the expense of the See also:electors of Saxony . So jealously were the secrets of this factory guarded that when See also:Napoleon, the See also:master of Europe, sent See also:Brongniart to investigate the methods in use at Meissen in 1812, the elector of Saxony had to See also:release Steinauer, the director, from his See also:oath of secrecy before he would explain the processes . Meissen porcelain, therefore, affords us the best example by which we may follow the changes of See also:fashion and See also:taste that governed the styles of porcelain decoration in Europe during the 18th century . The early Meissen porcelain was made from the See also:kaolin found at Aue, near See also:Schneeberg, and while there is no mention of any other material, we may be sure that clay and felspathic rock, analogous to the Chinese kao-lin and petun-tse, were obtained from the same quarries, and were used together . Until after the death of Bottger in 1719 it cannot be said that the venture was more than a succes d'estime . The specimens preserved in the Dresden Museum show that the pieces were generally thick in substance and clumsy in shape, being often mane from the moulds that had been designed fo1 Bottger's red-stoneware . Naturally enough these early examples were inspired by Chinese See also:models, both in shape and decoration . As at St Cloud, white pieces with modelled decoration were See also:common . Unlike the contemporary French glassy porcelains, the decorations in under-glaze blue were very imperfect, the St Cloud Potter's See also:mark . blue colour being much run and blistered; and when attempts were made at decoration in enamel colours (i.e. colours fired on the finished glaze) the result was unsatisfactory, as, owing to the refractory nature of the hard felspathic material, these colours frequently scaled off . The later success of the Meissen factory must be attributed to See also:Herold or Horoldt (who joined the See also:staff in 1 720 as a colour maker and painter), and to Kandler, a sculptor, who came to the works in 1731 . In the hands of these two men the forms and decorations, still largely based on Chinese and Japanese models, assumed a definitely European style, while the composition of the See also:body and the glaze, and the application of colours and See also:gold, were brought to perfection . Herold was appointed director of the works a few years after 1720, and retained that See also:post until 1765, while Kandler was chief modeller from 1731 to 1775 . The years from 1730 (when the work de-finitely emerged from its experimental See also:stage) to 1775 (when Kandler died) mark the most distinctive period of the Meissen porcelain . In the estimation of collectors also the Meissen porcelain of this period is the most valuable, and genuine examples of Alt-Meissen command high prices in the sale rooms, especially in Germany . This appreciation was quite as apparent in the 18th century, for by 1740 Meissen porcelain had won the greatest renown in Europe, and was actually exported by way of See also:Constantinople over the See also:Mahommedan countries of the Nearer East . It is frequently described by contemporary writers as being far See also:superior to the porcelain of China, and so great was its See also:vogue between 1740 and 1750 that as many as 700 workmen—a large number for those days—were employed, and the See also:industry brought large profits as well as great reputation to the Saxon court . Each See also:year saw some fresh departure from the See also:original See also:inspiration of the work, some fresh innovation of European style in See also:design . After 1730 the rude reproductions of Chinese forms and decorations in white or blue and white were replaced by imitations of the Imari porcelains, especially those decorated in the style of Kakiemon . Here Meissen was See also:running a See also:race with See also:Chantilly in setting the fashion for the dainty decorations in red and See also:green and gold which' spread in time to all the porcelain factories of Europe . Gradually European motifs became pre-dominant . The See also:simple oriental forms were replaced by distinctively European shapes with architectural See also:mouldings, handles and feet . Instead of the dainty Japanese patterns, we perceive the See also:gradual introduction of " See also:Rococo " See also:scroll-work (as interpreted by the Germans) to form a framework or border for See also:miniature-like paintings of landscapes, ruins, figure-subjects, See also:hunting scenes, &c., executed in the limited See also:palette of on-glaze colours then available . Further evidence of the departure from oriental See also:influence is to be found in the numerous " armorial " services produced between 1730 and 1740; and at the same period we find the first appearance of a style of decoration that has persisted to our own times, as a means of passing off pieces with small flaws in body or glaze, by hiding them among sprays of naturalistic See also:flowers, with an occasional See also:fly or some other winged creature thrown with seeming artlessness over the See also:surface of the piece . This idea, though it seems to have been first used at Meissen, was so useful to the potter that it became general, and a See also:device originally adopted to See also:cover faults of manufacture was elevated into a distinct style of decoration by later European factories (e.g . See also:Strassburg, Niederviller, &c.) . The talents of Kandler were applied in ambitious but unsatisfactory attempts to produce life-sized figures of the twelve apostles, an equestrian statue of Augustus the Strong of heroic proportions, and many models of animals intended for the decoration of the Japanese See also:palace at Dresden . Many of these latter are to be seen in the Dresden Museum, and create an unfavourable impression of the taste of their period . The fame of Kandler is better perpetuated (see example, See also:Plate IX.) by the little statuettes and See also:groups of figures and anidtals that flowed in a steady stream from his facile See also:hand; for though these figures have prettiness rather than See also:grace, and flair rather than style, they are See also:instinct with the spirit of the See also:middle 18th century, and were eagerly imitated or boldly copied at every factory in Europe . Only in the See also:biscuit porcelain figures of Sevres, and in some fewof the portrait figures of See also:Derby, do we find anything artistically superior . These Meissen statuettes look their best when they are simply in white; many are See also:grotesque and ugly, and the colour decorations are usually in very poor taste, the harsh, shining colours contrasting unpleasantly with the pronounced white of the porcelain . Mention must be made of the use of modelled flowers at Meissen . Originating in the simple application of modelled branches of prunus, &c. in imitation of the white porcelains of Fu-kien, the method developed until we get not only the characteristic " May-See also:flower " decoration (see example, Plate IX.), but also See also:independent sprays and bouquets modelled in porcelain and coloured with the utmost See also:mechanical precision . It is not quite clear whether this production of porcelain flowers was first perfected at Meissen or at See also:Vincennes,' but it was largely practised at both places . Toward the end of this period, vases, candelabra, See also:mirror-frames and See also:clock cases were modelled in the most outre rococo forms with applied scrolls, shells and flowers . These pieces had their modelled details picked out in gold and colours, while the success of the French styles of decoration is still further shown by the copies of See also:Watteau figures and groups on the more important vases, dishes and plates . See also:Frederick the Great made sad havoc with the prosperity of Meissen during the Seven Years' See also:War . He looted the factory both in 1759 and 1761, and is said on the latter occasion to have carried away to Berlin bcth models, working moulds and many workmen . This misfortune marks the end of the most distinctive Meissen porcelain, for after this time Sevres became the most important porcelain factory in Europe, and the later productions of Meissen were, for the most See also:part, German versions of the styles initiated at the French royal factory . From 1764 to 1774 See also:Dietrich, a painter, was at the See also:head of affairs, while a Frenchman named Acier succeeded Kandler . 'They introduced the neo-classical style, which was spreading like a blight all over Europe, and this departure was perfected under the directorship of See also:Count Marcolini (1774-1814), when Meissen, fallen from its high See also:estate, was content to follow the lead of Sevres . After the Marcolini period there is nothing to be said of Meissen . The old productions of the factory had become valuable, and the See also:custom of reproducing them, marks included, was adopted . Such a practice was not likely to lead to further progress, and, though the factory was removed from its old site in the Albrechtsburg in 1863, it cannot be said to have added anything to the progress of European porcelain during _ the 19th century . During the initiatory period the " Dresden " pieces See also:bore the See also:monogram " A . R." interlaced (Augustus Rex), and between 1712 and 1716 pieces intended for sale and not for the use " Dresden " Potter's of the court were marked with the sign of mark . See also:Aesculapius (a snake See also:twining See also:round a staff) . From about 1720 two crossed swords, painted in blue under the glaze, with or without accompanying stars, crosses, &c., formed the general mark, but the mark has been so often used on other porcelains that, in itself, it is of slight value as a means of See also:identification . Vienna.—The first mention of the manufacture of porcelain in Vienna occurs in 1718, when a Dutchman, See also:Claude du Paquier, was granted a patent . He had secured two runaways from Meissen, Stolzel and Hunger, yet little progress was made until after 1744, when the factory was bought by the empress Maria See also:Theresa . At first the traditional styles of Meissen were continued, but the characteristic Viennese porcelain was produced after 1785 . In this ware figure-See also:painting, See also:rich ground colours and elaborate gilding are associated in an unmistakeable manner . Leithner, who was chemist and colour maker at this period, succeeded in producing a more extensive and brilliant palette of colours than was in use at any other European porcelain factory in the last See also:quarter of the 18th century; and the gilding A perfect tour de force in this inartistic style of work, preserved in the Dresden Museum and formerly attributed to Meissen, has been shown to be the work of Vincennes . See Gaz. See also:des See also:beaux-arts, See also:September 1904, was rich and elaborate . Apart from its technical merits the ware has nothing to recommend it, for the styles of decoration showed pronounced neo-classical influence, and lacked the saving merits of the French work in the same style . The works was closed in 1864, on See also:account of the heavy expenses, and collectors should be reminded that many See also:spurious imitations, the product of small Viennese factories, are to be found on the See also:market . Berlin.—The first Berlin porcelain was made by W . Casper Wegeli, aided by workmen from other German factories, as W early as 175o . This business was unsuccessful and came to an end in 1757, but its productions are highly prized on account of their rarity . Success only came ,when Frederick the Great brought workmen, moulds and materials from Meissen in 1761, and, becoming proprietor of the works in 1763, founded the Royal Berlin Porcelain Manufactory . Though Meissen workmen and methods had been imported, and the Meissen style governed the earliest productions, Frederick's well-known penchant for French art was doubtless responsible for the fact that the rococo style of decoration was more determinedly followed here than elsewhere in Germany . The colour schemes of this ware are unusually simple, pieces being seldom decorated in more than three colours, while a See also:rose-coloured enamel, a favourite colour with the great Frederick, is quite characteristic . The Royal Berlin Factory passed under a cloud in the troubled See also:condition of the Prussian See also:monarchy during the early years of the 19th century, and down to 1870 it was content to follow in the See also:wake of Sevres like most of the other European factories . Since about the year 1880, however, it has developed into the most scientific of European porcelain works, and it was here that Seger manufactured his See also:special porcelain, made to reproduce the qualities of .the finest Japanese wares . In spite of this scientific success it must be remarked that the See also:late Berlin porcelain is artistically disappointing, being too exuberant for our taste and recalling anything rather than porcelain in its treatment . See also:Minor German Factories.—It is unnecessary to describe the productions of all the German porcelain works of the 18th century, for not only is there a strong family likeness, but all the works aimed at producing pieces comparable with those of Meissen, Vienna or Berlin . In every See also:case the industry was established under the patronage or at the See also:direct See also:charge of princes or great nobles, anxious to emulate the success of the elector of Saxony or the king of See also:Prussia, and generally the enterprise came to an end with the death of a See also:patron or from his unwillingness to sustain the continued drains upon his See also:purse . The factory at See also:Hochst was started about 1720 by wanderers from Meissen, but it was only carried to a successful issue through the patronage of the See also:archbishop-elector of See also:Mainz after 1746 . The general style of Hochst is a palpable imitation of the contemporary wares of Meissen, but this factory was noted for its excellent figures and groups, especially those modelled by Melchior (1770-1780) . He modelled, at Hochst, more than three See also:hundred figures, as well as many portrait medallions . The works came to an untimely end during the French invasion of 1794 . See also:Frankenthal had a porcelain factory (founded by the Hannongs of Strassburg) in 1756, and patronized by Karl Theodor, elector See also:palatine from 1762 to 1795, when the French invasion put an end to its activities . Melchior, the sculptor, came here from Hochst after 1780, and elaborate pieces in the current styles of Sevres and Dresden were made . Nymphenburg ]near See also:Munich, had a factory which was made a royal factory in 1758 by Max See also:Joseph III. of -See also:Bavaria . The ware was of fine quality, but without special distinction . Melchior came on here about 1800, remaining till his death in 1825; his Nymphenburg figures are as highly esteemed as those he modelled at Hochst and Frankenthal . In the early years of the 19th century elaborate painting became the rule here, as at the other royal factories, and copies were made on porcelain of some of the famous paintings in the Munich galleries . The works is still in existence, in the hands of a private See also:company, who unfortunately sell many reproductions of the 18th-century wares . Ludwigsburg, some 9 M. from See also:Stuttgart, had a porcelain factory from 1758 to 1824, liberally subsidized by the See also:dukes of See also:Wurttemberg . Highly-finished painting was the rule at this factory, and because the ware bore a See also:crown as one of its marks, it has rather foolishly been called " See also:Kronenberg " porcelain . See also:Furstenberg was the factory patronized by the dukes of See also:Brunswick . Experiments were made as early as 1746, but little ware was produced before 1770 . Furstenberg set itself to imitate all the best-known styles of the day, and its only distinctive productions are its " biscuit " statuettes and medallions . The factory remained in operation until 1888, but as the moulds were then sold by See also:auction, imitations of the old pieces are now common . Other 18th-century German factories were those of See also:Fulda, Bayreuth, See also:Cassel, Ansbach, Kloster-Veilsdorf, Wallendorf and See also:Limbach . Mention must also be made of the work of certain famous decorators, like Bottengruber and Preussler, who decorated both German and oriental pieces; while See also:Busch, the See also:canon of See also:Hildesheim, produced effects like fine See also:engraving by See also:etching the glaze with a See also:diamond and rubbing See also:black colour into the lines . While France and Germany were each developing their own particular type of porcelain, it was only natural that the See also:kings and princes of other countries should strive to emulate them in the manufacture of this still rare and highly esteemed form of pottery . Naturally, perhaps, the countries to the See also:north and east seem to have been influenced most by German methods, whilst those to the See also:south and west followed the French example . Holland.—The earliest Dutch factories were started as early as 1704, first at Weesp near See also:Amsterdam, and afterwards at Oude Loosdrecht . The mark of this factory occurs as M : O.L., or M. o . L . After 1782 the works was removed to Nieuwe Amstel, but the Amstel " porcelain came to an end with the French invasion . The ware resembled the German both in material and decoration . The best porcelain made in Holland was produced at a factory at the See also:Hague, founded some time after 1775 . There is a choice collection of this ware in the Gemeente Museum at the Hague . No porcelain appears to have been made in Holland afte |