Dresden porcelain

“ Naturally they vary greatly in quality, which depends on the purity and translucence of the ware whether it be cream or milk white, and on the soft aspect and rich lustre of the glaze. A large series, which may be taken as representative of the K’ang Hsi period, was collected by Augustus the Strong, and is still to be seen at the Johanneum at Dresden; or, rather, part of it is still there, for much of that historic collection was given away or pilfered from time to time, and many specimens with the Dresden catalogue numbers engraved are now to be found in our own museums. ”

“ Another effect sometimes mistaken for black painting is produced by silvered designs which become rapidly discoloured; but it is generally possible to see a slight metallic sheen even on the blackened silver if the porcelain is held obliquely to the light.
Another refined and unobtrusive decoration was effected by pencilling in pale iron red supplemented with gilding. There is a large series of this red and gold porcelain in the Dresden collection, and it seems to belong to the late K’ang Hsi or the Yung Chêng period. ”

“ This supposition is borne out by the fact that a few years ago a number of American potters attempted to make porcelain with kaolin brought from the South, and in every instance failed. Others have since met with success more or less complete. Böttcher did not succeed on his first attempt, and, in fact, it was not until several years after his death that the best Dresden ware was made. In a similar manner, experiment alone can enable American potters to avail themselves of the undoubted wealth of their own country. ”

“ So long as the kaolin from Passau was employed the paste was inferior to that of Meissen and Berlin, but in later days a better material was obtained from Bohemia. The most flourishing period was from 1770 to 1790, and in 1780, we are told, there were three hundred and twenty men employed. In early years the porcelain did not differ much from that of Dresden, but in 1784, when Conrad von Sorgenthal became director, a new style was introduced which has made the Viennese in some respects the typical ware of a bad period. ”

“ These Dresden figures of this early period now sell for very high prices, and are much sought for, as are also the figure-pieces of the Höchst and Chelsea factories.
But let us ask ourselves, “Why should we pay such great prices for work which, as art, has but a reflected value?” I am sure that no{236} great sculptor will apply his best work to china, or to any material which is so liable to be spoiled in the baking, and to one which, after all, is not suited to what we term high or fine art. ”

“ The chemist, above all, has at all times played an important part at Berlin.
Many strange applications of porcelain, some more curious than really beautiful, were introduced about the beginning of the nineteenth century. A close imitation{264} of lace and tulle, made by dipping into a specially prepared slip a real tissue which was afterwards burned away, was a nine days’ wonder when first introduced. (A veiled bust in white biscuit of Queen Louise of Prussia, now at Dresden, is perhaps the most famous example of this ware.) ”

“ THE HARD-PASTE PORCELAIN OF GERMANY Böttger and the Porcelain of Meissen WE have already more than once come across the famous Elector of Saxony, who found time, between his Polish wars and his innumerable amours, to bring together the nucleus, at least, of more than one of the great collections that have since his time attracted visitors to Dresden. ”

“ In 1708 a “Steinbäckerei” was started at Dresden for the manufacture of tiles, and shortly after Böttger’s celebrated red stoneware was invented. In 1710 he obtained a royal patent for the foundation of a porcelain factory; the site chosen for it was the fortress of Albrechtsburg, near Meissen, and in the course of the year the first samples were submitted to the Elector, two small cups with enamel decoration, still in the royal collection at Dresden. So began the manufacture of hard-paste china in Europe. ”

“ On examples in European collections this red, when used alone or in connection with blue, is generally of a rather poor maroon colour, and it has not found much favour with us. The colour was often thus applied to the painting of fish, floating, it may be, among blue water-weeds. We see it at its best as a monochrome on some little bowls, enlivened with a floral design in gold, in the British Museum. These cups and some similar ones at Dresden undoubtedly date from Ming times; the ruby tint seen through a brilliant glaze has never been equalled in later days. ”

“ In the Loan Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art have been exhibited many examples from Mr. Prime’s collection of porcelains, and about five hundred pieces of Oriental ware from Mr. Avery’s, of nearly every distinctive style made in China and Japan in their best times.
The collection of Mr. Robert Hoe, Jr., is extremely choice in its admirable specimens of Oriental porcelain. Its egg-shells, crackles, and “celestial blues,” are not to be excelled. In this collection are also examples of other styles, among them some of the best of old Dresden. ”

“ The vases and table-ware partake of the general character of the Dresden, which led all the rest; it had a good sale, and, being never produced in great quantities, the pieces are not now very common. They are desired in all good collections, and the prices are high.
One day, when Ringler had taken too much wine, his workmen stole from his pocket the secret for mixing the paste, and from this many of the smaller manufactories of Germany took their start. The factory was destroyed by the French in 1794. ”

“ There are collectors of the European productions who revel in the delights of fine Dresden groups, of marvellous Chelsea or Worcester vases, of Bristol figures and the other magnificent productions of the European factories in earthenware and porcelain, but we may safely say that the collector who takes up the study of Oriental porcelain relegates all these European productions into oblivion, and has only one desire, to secure the best possible specimens from the land of far Cathay. ”

“ The life of Böttger reads like a page of romance, and the story of the subsequent development of porcelain manufacture throughout the German empire is hardly less romantic. When the importance of Böttger’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. ”

“ Out of this great trade with the Orientals it is easy to see that the Dutch should come to be connoisseurs and lovers of porcelain. It is also easy to see that a sufficient interest should spring up there, after the discovery of true porcelain at Dresden, to induce persons to attempt the manufacture in Holland. ”

“ While working to that end, Böttcher surprised himself by producing something akin to Chinese porcelain. The course of his experiments was turned at once from the channel in which it had run. The king gave him every facility for continuing his experiments and working out his secret. He was first established at Meissen, then at Königstein, and last at Dresden. The first results were comparatively rude; then came a reddish stone-ware, and afterward a dull white porcelain. ”

“ The Government of Russia, inspired, like the rest, after the success at Dresden, with the desire to produce fine works, at once made efforts to secure the services of accomplished men to establish a porcelain-manufactory. ”

“ The precise result thus obtained is not known; for as a considerable rivalry existed between the different royal manufactories of this ware, the most valuable information would of course be kept as secret as possible.
Of the European manufactories of porcelain, that established at Miessen, near Dresden, by Augustus Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, in the early part of the 17th century, was the first that aspired to a competition with the Chinese. In compactness of texture and infusibility it was reckoned perfect a hundred years ago. ”

“ What are accessible to us are the private collections of some of our own people.
In New York, Mr. William C. Prime’s collection is quite large, numbering some four thousand pieces. It is particularly devoted to the porcelains of Europe, and is an excellent collection. In it are some four or five complete dinner-services of old Dresden and Sèvres porcelain, and many single pieces which rank high.{6}
Mr. S. P. Avery’s collection of Oriental porcelains is the most complete we have, and is very rich in all the departments, especially the Chinese. ”

“ He still retained the throne of Saxony, to which his son succeeded. This elector inherited the tastes and habits of his father, and continued to encourage and support the manufactory of porcelain at Meissen, until, entangling himself with Maria Theresa of Austria in an alliance against Frederick the Great, that restless and irresistible king overran his country, and for a time destroyed the production of porcelain in Saxony (A. D. 1756) .
In 1706 it appears that a Prussian named Böttger, an apothecary’s clerk, in danger of persecution as an alchemist, fled to Dresden for safety. ”

“ There were costly selections of Chinese, Japanese, East Indian, Dresden, and Sèvres porcelain. It is really astonishing to see what improvement was made in Dresden china in twenty years, and then from those twenty years until the present time. There are twenty rooms in the basement of this building which are filled with these collections. I only wish they had put them in the story above, where ever so much old statuary is placed, for then they could be seen to so much better advantage, and the statuary be kept in the shade, where, in my opinion, a good lot of it should always be. ”

“ Cloud, and among the earliest output of many other European works will be found plain white cups and teapots with applied sprays of Chinese plum-blossom in relief, faithfully copying the models of the Têhua factory. Statuettes and groups of divinities always formed a large proportion of its productions; the royal collection at Dresden contains a fine series of such figures, many of them nearly two feet in height, which were among the porcelain collected by Augustus the18 Strong of Saxony, through the agency of the Dutch East India merchants. ”

“ A little while ago there was a lawsuit—indeed a series of lawsuits—all turning upon the collection46 of porcelain left by a wealthy Regent Street merchant, whose hobby was the acquisition of china. As a man in the prime of life he had been a good judge; but as he grew older and his brain weakened his sense of discrimination left him, and it was discovered that his later purchases, so far from being the priceless examples of Dresden and other ware which they were thought to be, were all-but worthless. This naturally was a grief and disappointment to the heirs who were to benefit from the sale ”

“ Soldier-princes engaged in the wars which were waged in the German States turned aside to indulge in speculation concerning the new art. In 1717 about a hundred and fifty pieces of fine porcelain, many of them old Oriental, now at the Japanese Palace at Dresden, were acquired by Augustus the Strong of Saxony from the King of Prussia in exchange for a regiment of dragoons, without uniforms, horses, or arms. ”

“ Trade, the great amalgamator, is promoting this end. Chinese porcelain has long been sent to Japan for decoration, the resemblance between the styles of the two countries, due primarily to race, being thus increased. American biscuit is sent to England for the like purpose; and we read with more surprise that the unfinished ware of Dresden seeks ornamentation in the same country, whence it is returned to be placed upon the market as true Meissen. A firm of New Yorkers, again, have migrated to France and built up the beautiful fabric of Limoges with the aid of French artists. ”

“ Höchst, near Mainz. Enamelled fayence was made here in the beginning of the 18th century, at a factory founded by Gelz of Frankfort. The manufactory ceased in 1794, but a potter named Dahl established one in the vicinity. He made statuettes and other ornaments.
Dresden. A manufactory was established at Meissen, on the Elbe, about 12 miles from Dresden, by Augustus II., King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, for the manufacture of hard paste, or true [Pg 97] porcelain. The experiments of Tschirnhaus and Böttcher commenced about 1706; to the latter is attributed the invention of hard paste. ”

“ We can only pray that a day may come when the envy between nations will cease, and when each country shall respect its neighbor's rights in a truly Christian spirit. Then we shall have a world for which we shall not need to blush, and which will really be civilized."
"Did the Saxon workmen have to make Dresden china in Germany?"
"Yes. Works under the patronage of the Emperor were opened at Berlin, and here porcelain was made, the profits of which went to the Royal Treasury, the workmen being paid very little indeed. Much of the ware manufactured the monarch kept for his own use ”

“ At Sèvres, on the other hand, we shall see that the glaze of the hard porcelain contains no lime, while that substance is an essential constituent in the paste.
The Meissen porcelain, and indeed the German porcelains generally, form a typically hard and refractory group. But they have in a full measure les défauts de leurs qualités. Among them we may look in vain for that blending of the glaze and body that gives to the best Chinese porcelain a surface like that of polished marble; still less do we find in the enamel decoration the brilliancy and transparence of Oriental wares. ”