Böttger porcelain, polychrome and gold painted
Porcelain Manufactory Meissen, established in 1710, c. 1723-25
Underglaze blue ‘K.P.M.’ mark, and gilder cypher ’17.’
Octagonal sugar bowl with bulbous wall, and a stepped lid with a pagoda knob
On the wall rocaille cartouches with lustre fond, with chinoiserie scenes
To the sides Indian flowers in ironred, green, purpure and yellow
Stepped lid with ornamental bands in iron red and gold as well as chinoiseries in the central field
Dimensions: 8 x 11.2 x 9 cm
Sugar bowl by Meissen with fine chinoiserie paintings in the manner of Johann Gregorius Höroldt (1696-1775)

Condition:

The sugar bowl is in good condition, consistent with age. The lid, knob and wall with partial restorations. The gold décor is partial minimal rubbed. The painting and the gold décor were renewed in some areas. One small chip on the lid edge can be found.

Johann Gregorius Höroldt (1696-1775)

Nothing precise is known about his education, he was presumably active as enamel painter and wallpaper painter in Strasbourg. In 1719 he worked in Vienna and enters the following year in the Meissen Porcelain Factory. In 1724 he was appointed as court painter. The preconditions for polychrome painting were established under the direction Höroldt. According to the wishes of Augustus II the motifs were strongly oriented on East Asian patterns. Dutch and Italian harbor scenes arose after his designs since 1725. The attribution of certain painters is difficult, because Höroldt let paint after precise instructions. Since the late 1720s, he worked hardly as a painter and transferred the execution and the creation of new subjects to the workshop’s painters. In 1731, he took over the direction of the Meissen Porcelain Factory. Today the outstanding color technician is considered as the founder of the polychrome enamel painting on porcelain, as a creator of fantastic chinoiseries, and as the organizer of the complex manufacturing business.

Porcelain Manufactory Meissen

Porcelain has been known in Europe since the 13th century, but always had to be imported from China. Thus it was mostly of lower quality – the Chinese rarely gave their best ware to the foreigners – and extremely expensive. As demand for porcelain became greater, European alchemists tried to discover the formula to create hard-paste porcelain. The production of the first European hard-paste porcelain was the result of a collaboration between the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger and the scientist Ehrenfried Walther Graf von Tschirnhaus at the court of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, in Dresden. As a matter of fact, it was finally achieved for the first time in Europe in 1708 to produce a white hard paste porcelain and in 1710 Augustus established Europe’s first hard-paste porcelain factory in the Albrechtsburg, a palace in Meissen. The so-called ‘Böttgerporzellan’ actually had more of a stoneware quality and it was not until the year 1713 that white porcelain was available for purchase. Initially unmarked, the motif of the ‘crossed swords’ was developed in the early 1720s and used from 1723 onwards. Since then, beautifully modelled and painted figures and table services were produced at Meissen, establishing its reputation as the pre-eminent porcelain factory in Europe. Outstanding potters, modelers and painters, e.g. Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775), Johann Gottlieb Klinger (1701-1781) and Count Camillo Marcolini (1739-1814), were employed at the factory, which dominated the 18th century style of porcelain, and Meissen wares and figurines were imitated by craftsmen at other porcelain factories throughout Europe. Meissen celebrated its 300 years of existence in 2008. Until today, Meissen porcelain is known for highest quality and originality and greatly appreciated. (ala)

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