52 Augustus II, king of Poland and Elector of Saxony, was a collector who suffered from what he himself described as a “maladie de porcelaine”
According to the Chinese, Kao-ling and pai-tun-tzu represent the “backbone” and the “meat” of porcelain. Today they are commonly known as kaolin and feldspar; combined with quartz they form an alchemical compound that lies at the heart of the purity and hardness of the so-called “white gold” developed in China as early as the T’ang dynasty (618-907). After many unfruitful attempts, between 1708-1709 the miracle was achieved in Germany, where E. W. Von Tschirnhaus, physicist and chemist, and J. F. Böttger, alchemist, managed to reproduce a porcelain which was almost identical to the Chinese kind. The first European manufactory of hardpaste porcelain was thus established in Meissen in 1710, by the command of Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony and a great collector of precious Chinese porcelains. Augustus suffered from what he himself called a “maladie de porcelaine”: an obsession more than a passion. Jealous of the discovery, the King prohibited the copying of the recipe and ordered that the Meissen porcelain factory be transferred to the castle of Albrechtsburg, an impregnable fortress near a kaolin mine. Shortly after, however, the secret was leaked, spreading rapidly across Europe. Porcelain factories started popping up in France, at Limoges and Sèvres, and Italy, at Doccia. All conveniently situated
close to kaolin deposits, the sedimentary rock on which the purity of the finished product depends. In the Meissen manufactory, the creation of statues was entrusted to the sculptor Kirchner, later succeeded by Kändler. Hundreds of life-size porcelain animals were produced for the “Japanese Palace” in Dresden. Under Kändler, who became master modeller in 1733, new decorative motifs and china sets were developed, as well as the famous figurines inspired by the Orient, the Italian “commedia dell’arte” and by everyday life. The methodical collecting mania first of King Augustus II the Strong and later of his son Augustus III have left us today the wonderful collection preserved inside the Dresden State Art Collections (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden). In particular, the Porcelain Collection (Porzellansammlung) boasts some exceptional pieces, ranging from the Chinese Ming dynasty to the early 16th and 17th-century Imari and Kakiemon Japanese porcelains. The collection features samples of extraordinary artistic skill and illustrates the development of Meissen porcelain from its invention to the late 19th century. Since 1962, the museum is located in the Zwinger complex, where New York architect Peter Marino redesigned the interiors of the two Curved Galleries (Bogengalerien) and of the Animal Hall (Tiersaal) in 2010, innovatively
Above, the crossed swords are the mark of Meissen porcelain. Top, fine porcelain Landscape Shibori Rosenthal cup and saucer, by the Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola (www.rosenthal.de). Opposite page, clockwise from top left: a phase in the production process of the limited edition Meissen “Elephant” candlestick designed by Max Esser in 1924; the model and mould archive at the Nymphenburg manufactory; the kiln; moulding.
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