Page 131 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

INTRODUCING EASTERN GERM AN Y  129

Tableware Marks on
Meissen Porcelain
In the second half of the 18th and in the
19th centuries, porcelain manufacturers All porcelain manufacturers
developed their own designs. This proved so mark their products with their
popular that some remain in production to own symbols. The symbols
this day. The best-known Meissen designs are generally applied under
are the “vine-leaves” and the “onion” patterns, the glaze, at the bottom
first introduced in the 18th century. of the piece. The Meissen
Customers can thus still replace items factory initially used marks
in the services that have graced that imitated Japanese or
their family tables for generations. Chinese writing; later, for
a short time, letters were
used, and from 1724 blue
This coffee pot and cup is decorated trademarks in the shape of
with the cobalt “onion” pattern, crossed swords became the
depicting stylized pomegranate fruits.
standard mark. The last three
symbols below identify the
Fine-Art Motifs respective court for which
each piece of porcelain
A new type of decoration, which became popular in the second was produced.
half of the 18th century, involved the accurate copying of famous
paintings or etchings onto a vase, a pot or a plate. This type of
decoration proved particularly
popular during the
Classicist period.
Königliche Porzellan-Fabrik,
trademark used in 1723

Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur,
trademark used in 1723–4
Decorator copying an etching onto
a vessel
Vase decorated with a miniature of
a painting by Antoine Watteau
Trademarks used from 1724
Services and Figurines
Several outstanding sculptors and painters
were employed in the Meissen porcelain
manufacture to design unique services
and figurines for the royal courts. The
most famous among them are the
services designed by Johann Joachim Augustus Rex, the initials of
Kändler. He also created sets of figurines to King August
adorn dining tables, vases and
censers (containers for burning
incense) for decorating the
home, and large religious “Swan” Service Tureen
compositions for churches.
Königliche Hof-Küche

Figurine of August III

Europa, a figure from the Königliche
“Four Continents” series, Hof-Conditorei Warschau
designed by J J Kändler

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