Chapter XV: Part 15

It is only toward the end of the 16th century that we find the first examples of porcelain decorated with colours fired over the glaze. It seems probable that the practice grew out of the use of enamels on metal, which had spread from Byzantium to China, and which the Chinese developed with remarkable skill. It is important to remember that the very nature of the glaze of Chinese porcelain, necessitating such a high temperature to melt it, severely restricted the under-glaze palette to cobalt-blue and the glorious but uncertain copper-red. To obtain the rich polychromatic schemes of the potters of the West some other means must be found, and so the device was adopted of taking a finished piece of blue and white and decorating it further by very fusible colours painted over the fired glaze and then attached to it by refiring at a lower temperature equal only to that used by the enameller on metals. At first the on-glaze or enamel colours were applied as thin washes, as in the Ming (_San ts' ai_) three-colour decoration of green, purple, and yellow. Then we get the Ming (_Wan-li Wu ts' ai_) five-colour scheme, in which the same three colours are combined with an over-glaze red and all are painted over a skeleton pattern in under-glaze blue. This development, as its name implies, only took place in the reign of Wan-li (1573-1620).

At this time King-tê-chên must have produced a very large quantity of porcelain. The requirements of the court were enormous, for in 1583 one of the supervising censors, remonstrating with the emperor, declared that one year's demands comprised over 96,000 pieces; and Dr Bushell writes: "The colossal production of the reign of Wan-li is shown by the abundance of porcelain of this time to be found in Pekin at the present day, where a garden of any pretensions must have a large collection of bowls or cisterns for goldfish, and street-hawkers may be seen with sweetmeats upheld by dishes a yard in diameter, or ladling syrup out of large bowls, and there is hardly a butcher's shop without a cracked Wan-li jar standing on the counter to hold scraps of meat."

Such profuse orders may be accountable for the fact that the wares of this reign are inferior both in material and workmanship to the wares of the preceding and also of later periods, but the influence of the growing export trade doubtless told in the same direction. For several centuries the native Chinese porcelain had been exported to all the neighbouring countries, and through Persia and Cairo to the West. No long time elapsed before the Chinese adopted forms, colours and decorations for these export wares, not in accordance with Chinese usage, but presumably more suited to the tastes of the foreigner. Hence the Persian and Syrian style of the painted blue decoration of the 15th and 16th century wares found in other Asiatic countries. Now, for the first time, there came a direct European demand, and cargoes of ware were brought to Europe by the Portuguese and afterwards by the Dutch, which were increasingly decorated in fashions foreign to Chinese taste. The production of these export wares slowly modified the taste of the Chinese themselves and paved the way for the new styles of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

The political troubles which marked the downfall of the Ming dynasty definitely separated the first great period of Chinese porcelain from its second and culminating period. The works at King-tê-chên were destroyed more than once in the 17th century, but in spite of these difficulties the potters must have remained, for the reigns of K'ang-hi (1662-1722), Yung-chêng (1722-1735), and K'ien-lung (1736-1795) covered a century and a half, within which the high-water mark of artistic production was reached and passed. It is only possible here to sketch in broadest outline the course of this Renaissance, which has formed the subject of many learned works.

It is characteristic of the Chinese mind that during this period, when a spirit of eager experiment was abroad, the productions of their ancient kilns should receive no less attention than the new methods of decoration in on-glaze colours, while at the same time many of the discoveries of the later Ming days were carried on to perfection. The first remarkable productions of the reign of K'ang-hi, the famous green and blood-red _Lang-yao_ glazes, were made in the attempt to produce glazes like those of old times. With the more carefully prepared body and glaze the results are strikingly different and, as we think, superior, for it is difficult to believe that any example of the "sacrificial" red of the reign of Suen-tê can have been as glorious as the red _Lang-Yao_, the crown of all that group of glazes known from their general colour as _sang de boeuf_ (see example, Plate VII.). In the same way the traditional blue and white of the Ming period was continued with the greatest skill, and, if the blue pigment be not so pure as that of the 15th century, the decorative effect of the blue and white of the reign of K'ang-hi (see example, Plate VIII.) has never been equalled in Europe. The subjects of the blue and white pieces of this period are very varied, including religious, ceremonial, battle and hunting subjects, homely scenes such as ladies and children amusing themselves in gardens, or animals, birds, dragons and other fabulous monsters disporting themselves in clouds or waves. The so-called "hawthorn ginger jars" form a class by themselves in the opinion of modern collectors (see the plum-blossom jar, Plate VIII.), a specimen being sold at the Louis Huth sale (1906) for £5900. The fertility of the painters was remarkable, and a collection of the blue and white of this reign offers a fine feast of ceramic colour from the harmonious relation between the tones of the white and the blue, especially when it is seen _en masse_, as in the famous Dresden collection.[33]

The practice of painting the ground of a piece in blue so that the pattern was reserved in white (even artfully heightened by the use of slip) dates from Ming times, but the grounds of powder-blue appear to have originated at this time. The cobalt-pigment was not applied by a brush, but was blown on through a tube, one end of which was covered with fine muslin, in a rain of minute drops. This ground was either carried over the whole piece so as to give the effect of a vibrating blue glaze--in which case it was generally covered with conventional designs pencilled in ground-up gold-leaf over the glaze--or panels were reserved in white on which floral designs were afterwards painted in on-glaze colours.

In the same way the decoration in underglaze red was revived or re-introduced, and probably the finest pieces of this ware, as of so many others in our great European collections, date only from the beginning of the 18th century. Eggshell wares and pierced or reticulated pieces were made to great perfection, and the coloured glazes in light green, turquoise, purple and black (see Plate VII.) reached their height. The early glazes of this type appeared in Sung times (see above), but on the finely prepared K'ang-hi wares much more striking and brilliant colour effects were obtained. As in old times, for the production of some of these glazes a departure was made from the general Chinese methods. The vessels were first fired to the "biscuit" state, and then soft alkaline glazes coloured with copper or manganese were fired over them at a much lower temperature so as to give the "peacock-blue," "kingfisher-green" and "aubergine-purple" glazes. Many varieties of single-coloured glazes were made by covering a white glazed piece with on-glaze colour, and in this way new shades of coloured glaze, such as the coral-reds (Plate VII.), were obtained. The various brown or bronze-coloured grounds, so well known in the so-called "Batavian" porcelain, were obtained by coating the piece with a slip of some ochreous clay under the usual white glaze. Even these methods do not exhaust the fertile resources of the potters of this period, for they carried on concurrently the style of decoration in overglaze colours, first in the schemes characterized by the predominance of a vivid green enamel (_famille verte_; see Plate VIII.), and finally, in the 18th century, in the schemes in which rose, pink and purple colours predominate (_famille rose_; see Plate VIII.). It is probable that these latter colours, which owe their tint to gold, were introduced into China from Europe, but the Chinese employed them whole-heartedly, until in fact they largely ousted all the earlier types of colour decoration.

During the reign of Yung-Chêng (1723-1735) the diverse styles seem to have been finally struggling for mastery. Yung-Cheng was an ardent collector of ancient Chinese porcelains, and he sent to King-tê-chên specimens of the most ancient wares, whether of pottery or porcelain, to be reproduced, while at the same time he and his court patronized the wares in foreign styles and colours (Japanese and European.)

The struggle continued practically to the end of the 18th century, but in spite of certain brilliant inventions, such as the "iron-rust" and "tea-dust" glazes of the reign of K'ien-lung in harmony with old Chinese effects, what we must regard as the inferior decorative style triumphed, and we see the gradual disappearance of the ancient methods in favour of (1) wares of a beautiful white body decorated only with on-glaze colours, principally those of the _famille rose_, and (2) a very large production of inferior wares, made in European shapes and decorated with on-glaze painting and gilding to suit the European taste of the 18th century.

This "armorial" china, so much of which was once foolishly ascribed to Lowestoft, has little to commend it. The material is seldom of the best quality, and the Chinese rendering of European arms and crests, or stiff copies of European engravings surrounded by quasi-oriental borders of diaper, &c., does nothing to recommend it. A great deal of this ware, though manufactured at King-tê-chên, was decorated at Canton, and the school of pottery decorators founded there by reason of this export trade also produced a certain number of pieces in pure Chinese taste, especially some of the ruby-backed plates and dishes and the small cups and saucers decorated with deftly-painted designs of cocks, peonies, &c.

It must be pointed out that the great change implied in the replacement of patterns painted in blue under the glaze by those painted in colours over the glaze profoundly influenced the style of painting. In the earlier wares the treatment is bold and vigorous as becomes true pottery colour, and the softening of the colour by the melting glaze adds to the artistic charm of the result. Painting on a fired glaze is like painting on glass--fine lines, delicate drawing, and skilful stippling or cross-hatching are just as natural in this method as they are impossible or uncertain in the other. Naturalism of rendering takes the place of conventional decorative treatment, and elaborate minuteness of finish supplants the broad freedom of direct brushwork. During the 18th century the same leaven was at work on the porcelains of China and of Europe, the East influenced the West, and the West in its turn bore down the East. If Chinese porcelain remained superior to its European counterfeits, it was because the Chinaman was still the better potter and had a longer tradition of decorative art behind him.

There is little to be said of Chinese porcelain during the 19th century. The European demand was practically killed by the growth of porcelain works at home, and the imperial patronage, so great a factor in the production of artistic wares, was fitful and uncertain. Tao-Kwang (1821-1850) gave some attention to porcelain, and the pieces made for him and marked "_Shen-te-t'ang_" are valued by collectors. The so-called Peking bowls of his reign (made of course at King-tê-chên) are also of repute. But the political difficulties of China left little leisure for the cultivation of the arts; the successive wars with France and England served only to scatter the splendid wares of the past (see the Musée Chinoise at Fontainebleau), and during the reign of the next emperor Hien-fêng (1851-1861) the T'aipings overran the province of Kiang-si and destroyed King-tê-chên and its factories. Since then the town has been rebuilt and is once again producing Chinese porcelain. Tempted doubtless by the high prices now paid in Europe and America for examples of the Chinese porcelains of the 18th century, modern copies of the single-coloured, _sang de boeuf_, _flambé_ and other glazes are being made, while the highly prized "hawthorn" jars and black-ground vases are receiving the same undesirable attention.

_Materials and, Manufacture of Chinese Porcelain._--For many centuries
after its first appearance Chinese porcelain differed from every other
known species of pottery both in its material and its manufacture.
While the pottery of all other countries was generally made of
coloured clays mixed only with sand or broken "shards" and fired at a
comparatively low temperature, Chinese porcelain was compounded from
the purest white clays, sand and fusible rock; it was glazed with
fusible rock, and it was so hard fired that the entire mass became
vitrified and translucent. The germ of the manufacture lay in the
discovery of large masses of primary clay (kaolin) mixed with
finely-ground felspathic rock (petuntse), both of which were carefully
washed, levigated and purified. The body of Chinese porcelain varied
from time to time within wide limits, but, broadly speaking, it always
consists of purified kaolin, petuntse and quartz (sand), mixed in
various proportions, sometimes with additional ingredients, according
to the quality of ware desired. For the glaze the purest and cleanest
portions of the felspathic rock (petuntse) were selected and mixed
with lime--all being ground to fine powder. The lime causes the glaze
to melt at a lower temperature than would be necessary for petuntse
alone. The lime also gives the Chinese glazes their luscious softness
of aspect and the faint greenish or bluish tone, while it enabled them
to receive the later decorations in piled-up enamels, impossible on
the harder European porcelain glazes of the 18th century. The
finely-prepared glaze was applied to the clay vessels, before they had
been fired, either by dipping, by painting, or by insufflation; and
then glaze and body were fired together at a very high temperature.
For certain glazes--turquoise, purple, &c.--which were not of the
felspathic type, the vessels were first fired to the "biscuit" state,
and the glazes were then applied and fired at a much lower
temperature--the usual practice of the potters of other countries.
When painted wares in blue and red were first introduced, the
necessary pigments were painted on the pieces before firing, the glaze
was applied over them, and then all was finished at one and the same
firing. With the later enamel colours the piece was first fired as
above described, and the fusible colours were then painted on the
glaze, which was of course like glass. A second firing at a lower
temperature fused these on-glaze colours to the ware. For information
on Chinese materials and methods the reader is referred to the letters
of Père d'Entrecolles in the collection of Jesuit letters known as
_Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_. The English reader will find
reliable translations of the essential parts in Bushell's _Oriental
Ceramic Art_, Dillon's _Porcelain_, and Burton's _History of
Porcelain_. Later information will be found in Brongniart's _Traité
des arts céramiques_, especially in the 3rd edition, 1877; and in an
article by G. Vogt, _Bulletin de la Société d'encouragement pour
l'industrie nationale_, April 1900, pp. 530-612.

_Collections._--The Franks collection in the British Museum; the
Victoria and Albert Museum, where the famous collection of Mr George
Salting has for years been displayed, together with the collections
belonging to the museum. Paris, the Grandidier collection at the
Louvre; the collection at the Musée Guimet; the Sèvres Museum.
Fontainebleau, the Musée Chinoise. Dresden, the Porcelain
Collection--the oldest in Europe. Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts. New
York, the Metropolitan Museum containing the Garland and other
collections. Washington, the Hippisley collection; as well as
magnificent private collections, at the head of which is that of the
late W.T. Walters of Baltimore.

LITERATURE.--The older European works on Chinese porcelain have been
superseded by the later books. The following list contains the best
recent books:--S.W. Bushell, _Oriental Ceramic Art_ (New York, 1897;
text separately 1899); _Chinese Porcelain before the present Dynasty_
(Pekin, 1886); _Chinese Art_, vol. ii., Victoria and Albert Museum
Handbooks (1906); Brongniart, _Traité des arts céramiques_ (3rd
edition, with valuable supplements by Salvétat, 1877); Dillon,
_Porcelain_ (1900); Sir A.W. Franks, _Catalogue of Oriental Pottery
and Porcelain_ (1878); Grandidier, _La Céramique chinoise_ (1894);
Griggs, _Examples of Armorial China_ (1887); Hippisley, _Ceramic Arts
in China_ (Smithsonian Institute, Washington, 1890); Hirth, _Ancient
Chinese Porcelain_ (Leipzig, 1888); Julien, _Histoire et fabrication
de la porcelaine chinoise_ (Paris, 1856); Meyer, _Lung-chuan Yao, oder
alter Seladon Porzellan_ (Berlin, 1889); Monkhouse, _History of
Chinese Porcelain_ (1901); O. du Sartel, _La Porcelaine de Chine_
(Paris, 1881); Burton, _Porcelain_ (1906); Bushell and Laffan, _The
Garland Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of New York_ (1907).
(W. B.*)

EUROPEAN PORCELAIN TO THE END OF THE 18TH CENTURY

Europe can claim no share in the discovery of porcelain, the white and translucent pottery _par excellence_, for when the first specimens of Chinese porcelain were brought to Europe, perhaps as early as the 11th or 12th century, they excited the greatest wonder and admiration. Cairo was at this time the great mart for the exchange of the products of East and West, and from this centre porcelains were sent into Europe. Nasir i Khosrau, the Persian traveller, who visited Old Cairo in A.D. 1035-1042, was evidently acquainted with Chinese porcelain, and he also speaks of a translucent ware made at Fostat (Old Cairo) which may well have been the progenitor of the glassy porcelains of Persia, as well as of those made in Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. In A.D. 1171 the famous Saladin sent from Cairo a present of forty pieces of Chinese porcelain to the sultan of Babylon; and from that time onwards we have frequent records of pieces of this exotic pottery finding their way into the treasuries of European princes. With the renewed attention paid to the potter's art in Europe after the 14th century, it was but natural that efforts should be made to imitate a material so mysterious and beautiful. But knowledge of Chinese materials and methods was _nil_, and for a further two centuries all that Europe manufactured in the shape of translucent pottery was the artificial porcelain made with glass, which can only be looked upon as a substitute for true porcelain. In Italy during the 16th century, and in France during the century from 1670 to 1770 roughly, this artificial porcelain was made and developed. At Meissen in Saxony the famous Böttger made a true porcelain from materials analogous to the Chinese about 1710-1712, and this manufacture was pursued in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe (even in France, the home of the artificial glassy porcelain, after 1770), so that by the end of the 18th century, when Chinese porcelain had reached and passed its zenith, the manufacture of a similar material was well established in Europe, and the glassy porcelains had been generally abandoned. The only country which offered any departure from this general rule was England. The earliest English porcelains were derived from the French, and, like them, owed their translucence to the use of glass. Efforts were made at Plymouth and at Bristol (1758-1781) to introduce the manufacture of porcelain, like the Chinese and its German counterparts, but these failed and the English potters finally invented a third kind of porcelain, in which calcined ox-bones were added to the clay and ground rock to give a white translucent porcelain capable of receiving any form of decoration. This distinctively English porcelain, perfected about 1800, is not only the principal kind made in England in our own times, but its manufacture has been adopted, to some extent in France, Germany and Sweden, as well as in the 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 determined by the nature of the materials.

If we could trust to documentary evidence alone, the earliest European porcelains were made at Venice in 1470, and again in 1519; while we also read of its manufacture at Ferrara in 1561.[34] 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 Florence in the laboratory of Francesco de' Medici, between 1575 and 1585. Specimens of this rare porcelain are to be found only in great museums and private collections, where they rank among our 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 fine porcelain, while the glaze is neither smoothly melted nor free from defects. Obviously the effect of Chinese blue and white porcelain was aimed at, the decorations, reminiscent of the style of the Persian pot-painters, being executed in cobalt blue alone. These rare and interesting pieces bear distinctive marks; for at their period the use of painters' marks or monograms had become fairly general on artistic pottery in Europe. One of the best known marks is the "palle" or balls of the arms of the Medici family, bearing the letters "F M M E D II." for "Franciscus Medici Magnus Etruriae Dux II."; while other pieces have a rude representation of the Great Dome of Florence and the letter "F."

Chinese. K'ang-hsi period.

Chinese. Black ground. K'ang-hsi period.

Chinese (_Famille Verte_). K'ang-hsi period.

Chinese (_Famille Rose_). Ch'ien-lung period.

Chinese. Plum-blossom jar. K'ang-hsi period.]

Fortunately, too, besides the few specimens of Florentine porcelain that have survived to our day a manuscript has been found in the Magliabechian Library at Florence which states that the paste was composed of 24 parts of sand, 16 of a glass (powdered rock crystal 10 and soda 8), and 12 parts white earth of Faenza. To 12 parts of this mixture 3 parts of the kaolinic clay of Vicenza were to be added, and the pieces glazed with a lead glaze, or sometimes with the tin-enamel of the Italian 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 long 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 species of glazed and painted glass. The technical methods used in their manufacture and decoration, however, were those of the potter and not of the glass maker.

With the 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 secret of porcelain manufacture; but the first reliable date we can point to is 1673, when Louis Poterat, a faience maker of Rouen, obtained a privilege from the French king for the manufacture of porcelain in that town. The Rouen porcelain in turn ceased with the death of Poterat in 1696. Authentic specimens are extant in the shape of salt-cellars, mustard pots and some few vases, the latter of considerable size. The pieces are usually decorated in blue with patterns in the Rouen style and were evidently painted by an expert faience painter. In composition, the porcelain of Rouen, like that of Florence, was of the artificial or glassy type, and shortly afterwards a similar ware made its appearance at the faience works of St Cloud near Paris, and at various works in the city of Paris. Well-known pieces, bearing the marks here shown, formerly supposed to be the earliest specimens of French porcelain and the work of Poterat at Rouen, are probably experimental pieces made in Paris after the date of Poterat's discovery, as they differ in important particulars from his ware.

Once firmly established in France, this manufacture, under the patronage of the French court or of some great French noble, rapidly assumed a position of importance. The works at St Cloud received letters-patent from Louis XIV. in 1696, and the manufacture was continued there down to 1773. The appearance of the St Cloud porcelain is very characteristic, for though the paste has a yellowish tinge it is of fine quality with a clear and brilliant glaze. The first efforts appear to have consisted in frank imitations of the much-prized Oriental wares, and white pieces decorated only with branches of flowering plum in relief, or pieces modelled with imbricated or scale pattern or with delicate flutings, were made. The earliest colour decoration was naturally in under-glaze blue, and while quasi-oriental designs were largely used, the commonest feature is the prevalence of painted borders like those used on the faience of Rouen and St Cloud. At a later date decoration in over-glaze colours and gilding was also employed, and though the ware never reached to such a pitch of excellence as that of the Royal Manufactory at Sèvres, 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 order was reached in Germany. Augustus the Strong, elector of Saxony (1670-1733), had formed an extensive collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelains, still to be seen in the Dresden Museum, and he had established experimental pottery works, bringing skilled potters from Holland and elsewhere. His chief investigators appear to have been Tschirnhaus and Böttger, both alchemists, and it was the glory of the latter to be the first European to produce a porcelain like the Chinese, both in the nature of its materials, and in the appearance of its paste and glaze. It may be surmised that Böttger was guided toward this momentous discovery by information brought from China, though such an idea is always stoutly denied by German authorities, who, with pardonable pride, claim that Böttger at the age of twenty-four succeeded where all other European experimenters had failed. He was certainly working at the problems offered by the exotic wares of China, for his first production was an extremely hard redstone-ware--often erroneously called "Böttger's red porcelain"--resembling the Chinese "boccaros" or red teapots of the Yi-hsing potteries. He had been anticipated in this direction by Dwight of Fulham, but the red pottery of Böttger was so intensely fired that it became dense enough to be cut and polished by the lapidary as if it were a piece of jasper or carnelian. It was first offered for sale at the Leipzig fair of 1710, and for many years it enjoyed great popularity, as well as the undesirable honour of wide imitation. At the same time (1710) Böttger exhibited a few crude specimens of greyish-white porcelain. Imperfect pieces were on sale in 1713, and by 1716 its manufacture was definitely established, though the pieces were still far from perfect. Böttger died in 1719, having had the rare fortune, in his short and eventful life, to establish in Europe the manufacture of true porcelain.

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. All concerned were practically 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 Hunger, and the men who learnt from them, travelled all over the empire, and the following list of dates will show how porcelain factories sprang up from the parent factory at Meissen:--

Meissen 1710 | St Petersburg 1744
Vienna 1718 | Berlin 1750
Ansbach 1718 | Nymphenburg 1758
Bayreuth 1720 | Ludwigsburg 1758

_Meissen._--Although the factory which was founded at Meissen as a result of Böttger'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 electors of Saxony. So jealously were the secrets of this factory guarded that when Napoleon, the master of Europe, sent Brongniart to investigate the methods in use at Meissen in 1812, the elector of Saxony had to release Steinauer, the director, from his 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 fashion and taste that governed the styles of porcelain decoration in Europe during the 18th century. The early Meissen porcelain was made from the kaolin found at Aue, near Schneeberg, and while there is no mention of any other material, we may be sure that clay and felspathic rock, analogous to the Chinese _kaolin_ and _petuntse_, were obtained from the same quarries, and were used together. Until after the death of Böttger in 1719 it cannot be said that the venture was more than a _succès d'estime_. The specimens preserved in the Dresden Museum show that the pieces were generally thick in substance and clumsy in shape, being often made from the moulds that had been designed for Böttger's red-stoneware. Naturally enough these early examples were inspired by Chinese models, both in shape and decoration. As at St Cloud, white pieces with modelled decoration were common. Unlike the contemporary French glassy porcelains, the decorations in under-glaze blue were very imperfect, the 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 Herold or Höroldt (who joined the staff in 1720 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 body and the glaze, and the application of colours and gold, were brought to perfection. Herold was appointed director of the works a few years after 1720, and retained that post until 1765, while Kandler was chief modeller from 1731 to 1775. The years from 1730 (when the work definitely emerged from its experimental 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 Constantinople over the Mahommedan countries of the Nearer East. It is frequently described by contemporary writers as being far superior to the porcelain of China, and so great was its vogue between 1740 and 1750 that as many as 700 workmen--a large number for those days--were employed, and the industry brought large profits as well as great reputation to the Saxon court. Each year saw some fresh departure from the original inspiration of the work, some fresh innovation of European style in 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 running a race with Chantilly in setting the fashion for the dainty decorations in red and green and gold which spread in time to all the porcelain factories of Europe. Gradually European _motifs_ became predominant. The simple oriental forms were replaced by distinctively European shapes with architectural mouldings, handles and feet. Instead of the dainty Japanese patterns, we perceive the gradual introduction of "Rococo" scroll-work (as interpreted by the Germans) to form a framework or border for miniature-like paintings of landscapes, ruins, figure-subjects, hunting scenes, &c., executed in the limited palette of on-glaze colours then available. Further evidence of the departure from oriental 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 flowers, with an occasional fly or some other winged creature thrown with seeming artlessness over the 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 device originally adopted to cover faults of manufacture was elevated into a distinct style of decoration by later European factories (e.g. 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 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, Plate IX.) by the little statuettes and groups of figures and animals that flowed in a steady stream from his facile hand; for though these figures have prettiness rather than grace, and _flair_ rather than style, they are instinct with the spirit of the middle 18th century, and were eagerly imitated or boldly copied at every factory in Europe. Only in the _biscuit_ porcelain figures of Sèvres, and in some few of the portrait figures of Derby, do we find anything artistically superior. These Meissen statuettes look their best when they are simply in white; many are 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-flower" decoration (see example, Plate IX.), but also independent sprays and bouquets modelled in porcelain and coloured with the utmost mechanical precision. It is not quite clear whether this production of porcelain flowers was first perfected at Meissen or at Vincennes,[35] but it was largely practised at both places.

Toward the end of this period, vases, candelabra, mirror-frames and clock cases were modelled in the most _outré_ 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 Watteau figures and groups on the more important vases, dishes and plates. Frederick the Great made sad havoc with the prosperity of Meissen during the Seven Years' War. He looted the factory both in 1759 and 1761, and is said on the latter occasion to have carried away to Berlin both models, working moulds and many workmen. This misfortune marks the end of the most distinctive Meissen porcelain, for after this time Sèvres became the most important porcelain factory in Europe, and the later productions of Meissen were, for the most part, German versions of the styles initiated at the French royal factory. From 1764 to 1774 Dietrich, a painter, was at the 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 Count Marcolini (1774-1814), when Meissen, fallen from its high estate, was content to follow the lead of Sèvres.

After the Marcolini period there is nothing to be said of Meissen. The old productions of the factory had become valuable, and the 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 bore the monogram
"A.R." interlaced (Augustus Rex), and between 1712 and 1716 pieces
intended for sale and not for the use of the court were marked with
the sign of Aesculapius (a snake twining 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 identification.

_Vienna._--The first mention of the manufacture of porcelain in Vienna occurs in 1718, when a Dutchman, Claude du Paquier, was granted a patent. He had secured two runaways from Meissen, Stölzel and Hunger, yet little progress was made until after 1744, when the factory was bought by the empress Maria Theresa. At first the traditional styles of Meissen were continued, but the characteristic Viennese porcelain was produced after 1785. In this ware figure-painting, 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 quarter of the 18th century; and the gilding 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 account of the heavy expenses, and collectors should be reminded that many spurious imitations, the product of small Viennese factories, are to be found on the market.

_Berlin._--The first Berlin porcelain was made by W. Casper Wegeli, aided by workmen from other German factories, as early as 1750. 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 rose-coloured enamel, a favourite colour with the great Frederick, is quite characteristic. The Royal Berlin Factory passed under a cloud in the troubled condition of the Prussian monarchy during the early years of the 19th century, and down to 1870 it was content to follow in the wake of Sèvres 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 special porcelain, made to reproduce the qualities of the finest Japanese wares. In spite of this scientific success it must be remarked that the late Berlin porcelain is artistically disappointing, being too exuberant for our taste and recalling anything rather than porcelain in its treatment.

_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 case the industry was established under the patronage or at
the direct charge of princes or great nobles, anxious to emulate the
success of the elector of Saxony or the king of Prussia, and generally
the enterprise came to an end with the death of a patron or from his
unwillingness to sustain the continued drains upon his purse.

The factory at Höchst was started about 1720 by wanderers from
Meissen, but it was only carried to a successful issue through the
patronage of the archbishop-elector of Mainz after 1746. The general
style of Höchst 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 Höchst, more than three hundred figures, as well as many
portrait medallions. The works came to an untimely end during the
French invasion of 1794.

Frankenthal had a porcelain factory (founded by the Hannongs of
Strassburg) in 1756, and patronized by Karl Theodor, elector palatine
from 1762 to 1795, when the French invasion put an end to its
activities. Melchior, the sculptor, came here from Höchst after 1780,
and elaborate pieces in the current styles of Sèvres and Dresden were
made.

Nymphenburg, near Munich, had a factory which was made a royal factory
in 1758 by Max Joseph III. of 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 Höchst 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 company, who
unfortunately sell many reproductions of the 18th-century wares.

Ludwigsburg, some 9 m. from Stuttgart, had a porcelain factory from
1758 to 1824, liberally subsidized by the dukes of Württemberg.
Highly-finished painting was the rule at this factory, and because the
ware bore a crown as one of its marks, it has rather foolishly been
called "Kronenberg" porcelain.

Fürstenberg was the factory patronized by the dukes of Brunswick.
Experiments were made as early as 1746, but little ware was produced
before 1770. Fürstenberg 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 auction, imitations of
the old pieces are now common.

Other 18th-century German factories were those of Fulda, Bayreuth,
Cassel, Ansbach, Kloster-Veilsdorf, Wallendorf and 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 Busch, the canon of Hildesheim, produced
effects like fine engraving by etching the glaze with a diamond and
rubbing black colour into the lines.

While France and Germany were each developing their own particular type of porcelain, it was only natural that the 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 north and east seem to have been influenced most by German methods, whilst those to the south and west followed the French example.

_Holland._--The earliest Dutch factories were started as early as
1704, first at Weesp near 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 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
after about 1810 until 1890 or later.

_Denmark._--It has been stated that porcelain of the German type was
made in Copenhagen as early as 1731, but there is no definite record
of the production of true porcelain until about 1772, when potters,
modellers and painters from some of the German works founded the
enterprise which was taken over by King Christian VII. in 1779 and
converted into a royal factory. Fostered by the king's patronage, fine
porcelain of pronouncedly German style was largely made down to the
end of the 18th century. The collection in the castle of Rosenburg
contains many examples of the work of this period. In the early years
of the 19th century the Empire style of decoration was adopted, and
the artistic influence of Sèvres became paramount. Large sums of money
were continually required from the crown to maintain the establishment
until, in 1867, it was sold into private hands to get rid of an
encumbrance. The subsequent new-birth of the existing royal Copenhagen
porcelain works must be noted in the next section.

_Sweden._--The history of Swedish porcelain in the 18th century is
connected with the factories at Rörstrand and Marieberg, both in the
environs of Stockholm. Tentative experiments were made at both these
places before 1760, but these came to an end by the close of the 18th
century, though the Rörstrand works was reopened some fifty years ago
and will be subsequently referred to. The Swedish porcelains were of
two kinds, one a true felspathic porcelain like the German, and the
other a glassy porcelain resembling that made at Mennecy in France. It
is interesting to note that the decorative styles in both cases are
distinctly French in character.

_Russia._--Peter the Great is said to have projected a porcelain
factory at the suggestion of his ally Augustus the Third of Saxony,
but the scheme was not carried into execution until the days of the
empress Elizabeth. Catherine II. subsidized the work in prodigal
fashion, but although she brought over French artists, the Russian
porcelain more closely resembles its German than its French prototype.
In the early years of the 19th century the imperial Russian factory
followed the example of Sèvres in producing costly dinner services and
extravagant vases of large dimensions.

Small independent factories were started in the neighbourhood of
Moscow: one by an Englishman named Gardner about 1780, and another by
A. Popoff. Besides producing ordinary table ware these Moscow
factories sent forth a considerable number of statuettes, the most
interesting being those representing Russian peasant types.

_Hungary._--The one Hungarian porcelain factory of note is that at
Herend, which was founded about 1830 by Moritz Fischer. At this
factory copies of oriental porcelain were made that have deceived many
collectors, though the pieces are usually impressed with the word
"Herend" in the paste.

_Switzerland._--Little porcelain has been produced in Switzerland, and
considering the geographical position of the country it seems natural
that porcelain of the German type should have been made at Zurich and
of the French type at Nyon on the lake of Geneva, but these
productions are of no particular importance.

_French Porcelains._--The beginnings of French porcelain at Rouen and St Cloud have already been mentioned, as they preceded Böttger's discovery of true porcelain; but as nothing was known in France of the methods and materials used by the German porcelain makers, the artificial or glassy porcelain held sway in France through the greater part of the 18th century. The next important factory after St Cloud was that founded at Chantilly about 1725 under the patronage of the Prince de Condé, an enthusiastic collector of Chinese and Japanese porcelains. One distinctive feature of the Chantilly porcelain is its imitation of the Japanese Imari wares of the 17th century, especially those bearing delicate patterns in the Kakiemon style. This imitation was not confined to the decoration alone, but great efforts were made to reproduce the delicious tender whiteness of the original ware, by covering the body of the soft porcelain with a coating of the tin-enamel used by the French faience makers. Similar imitation of the Kakiemon style of decoration became the rage all over Europe, and was largely followed at Meissen and in England as well as in France; but no European imitations equalled those of the famous Chantilly ware.

Other porcelain factories were started at Mennecy-Villeroy and at Lille, but the most important French factory was that founded at Vincennes about 1740, not only because of the many beautiful pieces produced there, but also because the works was taken under the direct patronage of the king in 1753 and was transferred to Sèvres in 1756, becoming ultimately the most important porcelain factory in Europe.

Fortunately we have documentary information of the exact composition
of the artificial porcelain (_pâte tendre_) of Sèvres, and a brief
account of its manufacture will serve to explain how all the glassy
porcelains of Europe were made. The potter commenced by preparing a
glass or frit, melting together pure sand, alum, sea-salt, gypsum,
soda and nitre. The clear portions of this frit were powdered and
washed with boiling water, and the working clay was compounded by
adding to such powdered frit a small quantity of chalky clay or marl
and sometimes pure chalk as well. This mixture was ground in water
until the fluid was as fine as cream, and it was then boiled to a
thick paste which was so little plastic in itself that black soap or
parchment size was added to it to give it enough plasticity for the
workman to be able to shape it. Vases and other pieces were made from
this paste by pressing cakes of it in plaster moulds of considerable
thickness. After pressing, the pieces were dried and were then either
turned on a lathe or rubbed down with sand-paper to reduce them to
sufficient thinness; while handles, spouts or other ornaments in
relief were applied with a lute of slip, as is customary with every
other species of pottery. The fragile objects were then fired into
what is known as the "biscuit" condition; the most difficult part of
the whole process. During this firing the pieces frequently went out
of shape because of the excessive shrinkage of the material and its
tendency to soften as it approached the melting point of the frit.
Consequently an elaborate system of "propping" the pieces had to be
resorted to, and even then a very large proportion became deformed.
When the porcelain was drawn from the oven after the first firing, the
supports were removed and the pieces were rubbed with sand to clean
the surface, and were then coated with glaze by sprinkling with a
brush; the glaze being a fusible glass very rich in lead. The glaze
coat was melted by refiring the piece at a lower temperature; and it
was frequently necessary to repeat this process several times in order
to get a perfectly even and brilliant result. The difficulties of such
a process were enormous, and it was only by the financial support of
wealthy patrons, or of the state, that such a method of manufacture
was ever carried on for any length of time. At its best the material
is an exceedingly beautiful one, lending itself especially to
decoration in on-glaze colours, and the pieces produced at Vincennes
and at Sèvres, between 1745 and 1770 or thereabouts, form a distinct
class by themselves. Skilful chemists like Hellot and Macquer were
employed to direct the operations, and many beautiful ground colours,
such as the famous _gros-bleu, bleu de roi, rose Pompadour_, pea-green
and apple-green were invented.