Meissan porcelain was the first porcelain of European nature made in 1708. The production of porcelain started in 1710 at Meissan in Europe.Meissen remained the dominant European porcelain factory, and the leader of stylistic innovation, until somewhat overtaken by the new styles introduced by the French Sèvres factory in the 1760s, but has remained a leading factory to the present day.had gradually developed over centuries, and by the seventeenth century both Chinese and Japanese export porcelain were imported to Europe on a large scale by the Dutch East India Company and its equivalents in other countries.
It was a very expensive product by the time it reached European customers, and represented wealth, importance and refined taste in Europe. Local attempts to produce porcelain, such as the brief experiment that produced Medici porcelain had met with failure.
he rich variety of designs and colours that decorate Meissen porcelain is unsurpassed anywhere in the world. From the chinoiserie of Johann Gregorius Höroldt and the nearly 300-year-old “Onion Pattern” or “Ming Dragon” to the delicate blossoms of the Biedermeier-era Manierblumen (“mannered flowers”), all the way to innovative, contemporary creations such as the “Stripes” or “Cosmopolitan” collections – the breadth of Meissen decor embodies the artisanal excellence and design traditions of Europe’s oldest porcelain manufactory over the centuries.
To this day, each step of decoration is applied by hand using traditional techniques, relying entirely on proprietary over- and underglaze colours made from pigments formulated in the in-house laboratory that was first founded in 1720. In the early days of the aboratory, it was porcelain painter Johann Gregorius Höroldt who advanced the development of colours, creating a base palette of 16 coloured, kiln-resistant overglazes and a cobalt-blue underglaze that laid the cornerstone for the manufactory’s decorative tradition. During his time, hundreds of decoration motifs were created of such artistic calibre and radiant colour that they blazed a trail for all the European porcelain that followed.
Today, the standard repertoire of a Meissen porcelain painter comprises around 300 colours – a small portion of the approximately 10.000 paint formulas conserved in the laboratory. The exact formulas are accessible only to a small number of employees, valuable as these are to the rich legacy of Europe’s oldest porcelain manufactory.
How to Identify Meissan Porcelain
The Blue crossed Marks are usually the best way to identify porcelain.Not all blue crossed swords marks are genuine Meissen marks.
Knowing what to look for and the dates that are relevant to each Meissen mark can help you avoid buying imitation Meissen porcelain.
You should remember that the marks detailed below are mostly drawn by hand and that slight variations in the format occur and the mark only supports the source and doesn’t testify to it.
The true test of an antique Meissen porcelain piece is always the overall quality of the object and the quality of the decoration.
Famous Meissen pieces and patterns
There are many Meissen pieces that are of special interest to collectors and well document the diverse and interesting history of Meissen porcelain. All Meissen pieces are of very high quality and are expensive to collect, but these particular pieces and dinnerware patterns have a special place in the history of Meissen ceramics.