The well-known mark of the two swords (Pl. c. 27) cannot be traced by means of dated specimens further back than the year 1726. This mark had its origin in the privilege claimed by the Saxon electors of carrying the two imperial swords before the Emperor at his coronation. On the earliest pieces we find either the letters A. R. in blue (Pl. c. 26), or else a roughly painted caduceus, or rather rod of Æsculapius (Pl. c. 25), the first on ware for court use, the second on that made for the market. An incised mark cut with the wheel across the two swords is said to indicate the ware that was sold undecorated, generally pieces with some slight defect. We may note that a similar practice was at one time in use at Sèvres. The addition of a star to the swords indicates the Marcolini period. These eighteenth century marks, however, were copied not only in England and by private firms in Germany, but also on the imitation of the vieille saxe made in the last century at the royal works at Meissen, so that their presence on a piece of china is of little value in identifying the date or place of origin.
CHAPTER XVI
THE HARD-PASTE PORCELAIN OF GERMANY—(continued)
VIENNA—BERLIN—HÖCHST—FÜRSTENBERG—LUDWIGSBURG—NYMPHENBURG—FRANKENTHAL—FULDA—STRASSBURG
THE HARD AND SOFT PASTES OF SWITZERLAND, HUNGARY, HOLLAND, SWEDEN, DENMARK, AND RUSSIA
IN spite of the elaborate precautions that were taken—the oaths of secrecy, the military guards that accompanied the relays of china-clay to the fortress at Meissen in which the works were established—by the middle of the eighteenth century, at nearly all the courts of Germany, imperial, royal, or serene, we find a porcelain manufactory already in full work. It was the fashion of the day, and took its place, like the opera company or the stud, in the equipment of an up-to-date Residenz-Stadt. Only one or two of these princely factories survived the time of turmoil at the end of the century and the Napoleonic invasions. In no single one of the works can we find that any fresh line was struck out or any important improvement made either in technique or in design. The products of these different factories are often to be distinguished only by the marks they bear, and these marks are as often as not forgeries. We shall therefore confine ourselves to a somewhat summary description, pointing out especially the relations of the different centres to one another. The starting of a new manufactory generally depended upon the successful bribing of some official or foreman of works: at the beginning such aid was sought from Meissen, but later on the assistance came from Vienna or from Höchst, so that on this ground the relation of the works to one another might be represented by a rough kind of genealogical tree.
Vienna.—The beginnings of the factory at Vienna were humble. Claude du Paquier, a Dutch adventurer, took out a patent for making porcelain in 1718, and with the aid of an enameller and gilder from Meissen, one Hunger, a man with some knowledge of chemistry, carried on the work on a modest scale, until in 1744 his factory and his secrets were bought by Maria Theresa for 45,000 gulden. The Viennese porcelain was henceforth, until the extinction of the industry in 1864, marked with the Hapsburg shield, generally in blue, under the glaze (Pl. c. 28), with the addition, after 1784, of a contracted year-mark.
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. Much attention was paid to the gilding and to the pigments employed, and the surface of the porcelain was covered by an elaborate and often gaudy decoration. We are, however, informed by an eminent German authority that ‘from 1785 to 1815 the Viennese porcelain among all the manufactures of the time took, from an artistic point of view, the highest rank’ (Jaennicke, Keramic, Stuttgart, 1879). It is in any case remarkable that, during a period of disastrous war and foreign occupation, so much bad porcelain and good music should have been produced at Vienna. It was at this time that the chemist Leithner obtained, for the first time, an intense black from uranium and perfected the process by which platinum is applied in low relief.
To the same chemist we must also attribute another speciality of the Viennese porcelain of this time,—the decoration with designs in polished gold upon a dead ground of the same metal. There are some elaborately decorated plates at South Kensington which well illustrate the merits or demerits of this ware. In spite of the early foundation of the factory, the Viennese porcelain, as a whole, falls into the later ‘sentimental to classical’ period, that contemporary with Marcolini at Meissen and with the earlier hard paste of Sèvres. The historical development of the ware is well illustrated in the Industrial Museum at Vienna, and it may be acknowledged that some success was obtained with small figures and even life-sized busts. A good deal of cheap and meretricious stuff made in the numerous private kilns in and around Vienna in the latter half of the nineteenth century has lately found its way into the English market.
Berlin.—The porcelain of Berlin is of some interest to us for two reasons, one historical and the other of a technical nature. On the one hand it was thanks to the fostering care of the great Frederick that the factory first assumed any importance, and on the other it was the great attention given in later days to choice of materials (together with the refractory nature of the paste) that led to this pure white ware being employed above all others in the laboratory of the chemist. As at Vienna, the origin of the works was humble, and in this case one perhaps might even say ‘shady,’ if we are to believe the story that it was the workmen who had stolen from the pocket of Ringler, the arcanist of Höchst, the papers containing his recipes and private notes, who were engaged in 1750 by the merchant Wegeli, the first to set up a kiln for porcelain at Berlin.160
The ware that Wegeli made is not important. We find little figures and groups in imitation of Kändler as well as cups and teapots decorated in blue, sous couverte, with little sprigs; his mark, a W., has unfortunately been used at other factories. It was indeed rather the banker Gotzkowski who was the practical founder of the Berlin works, for Wegeli had abandoned his enterprise at the commencement of the Seven Years’ War.
German writers are not agreed as to what share should be given to the king in the removal of the staff and workmen of the Meissen works to Berlin in 1761. Frederick at that time was hard pressed by his enemies and in great want of money; in the letter, quoted below, he writes that he has nothing left but his honour, his coat, his sword, and his porcelain. He has been accused of forcibly removing to Berlin, not only the workmen, but the artists also and other members of the staff at Meissen. On the other hand, it is claimed that the removal was voluntary, and brought about by the offers of good pay made by Gotzkowski. Frederick at that time had other things to do,161 and it was not till the close of the war in 1763 that he purchased Gotzkowski’s new works for a large sum. He now had leisure to take a personal interest in the manufacture. About this time the kaolin which had been previously brought from Passau, in Bavaria, was obtained, of better quality, from the quarries near Halle which still supply the Berlin works. The sale of the porcelain was forced with true Prussian energy: its purchase was obligatory for lottery prizes, to the amount of 10,000 thalers every year, and no Jew could obtain a marriage certificate except on the production of the receipt for the purchase of a service of porcelain. It is for this reason that the Berlin ware is in Germany sometimes known as Juden porcellan. Grieninger, a Saxon, was the practical manager of the works from the time of their foundation by Gotzkowski to the end of the century. During this period the porcelain produced differed little from that previously made at Meissen. A shade of pink, derived from the purple of Cassius, was much admired by Frederick, and forms the pendant to the famous rose-colour of his bitter enemy, Madame de Pompadour.
The changes made after this time were chiefly of a practical nature. The horizontal furnaces were early replaced by the cylindrical type now generally in use in Europe, and as long ago as 1799 steam power was employed in the preparation of the materials. 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 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.) Another application of porcelain was to the ‘transparencies’ or lithophanie, in which the design, as seen by transmitted light, was given by variations in the thickness of the paste.
The only mark of interest on the porcelain of Berlin is the sceptre (Pl. c. 31), the prized ensign that the electors of Brandenburg bore on their shield as an emblem of their position as Arch-Chamberlains of the Holy Roman Empire.162 It was this sceptre (very slightly indicated on the earlier examples, and resembling, perhaps intentionally, the Saxon mark) that the Prince de Ligne observing on his plate, when dining with the king, affected to take for a sword, and made the occasion of a ‘two-edged’ compliment.
Höchst.—The fayence of Höchst, a town lying between Frankfort and Mainz, had acquired some reputation early in the eighteenth century, and already, by the year 1720, one of the manufacturers, Göltz, had attempted to make porcelain. But not until he had obtained the assistance of a runaway workman or ‘arcanist’ from Vienna, one Ringler (a name which occurs over and over again in similar connections—see note, p. 262), was anything of importance accomplished.163 The kilns were now rebuilt on the Viennese model, and by the year 1746 porcelain of good quality was produced. The works had already received many privileges from the local prince, in this case the archbishop-elector of Mainz, and about 1778 (or perhaps earlier) the whole establishment was purchased by him. This prince was a patron of art and fond of display, so that during his day the manufacture was conducted on a non-commercial basis. The chief claim to attention of the ware made at Höchst depends upon the little lifelike figures that were modelled by a clever sculptor who worked there from 1768 or 1770 to 1780. The work of this Johann Peter Melchior, who survived till 1825, is preferred by some collectors to anything made at Meissen. He migrated late in life first to Frankenthal, and then to Nymphenburg. The wooden models from which he worked are now much sought after in Germany. It is stated that the kaolin used at Höchst was obtained from Limoges, but this can only apply to a comparatively late period. The works came to an end with the invasion of the French in 1794. The mark, a six-spoked wheel, sometimes surmounted by a crown (Pl. c. 29), is derived from the arms of the arch-episcopal see of Mainz,—indeed the Höchst ware is sometimes known as porcelaine de Mayence.
Fürstenberg.—The Duke Karl of Brunswick was one of the earliest German princes to establish a porcelain factory; this was at the castle of Fürstenberg, on the Weser. The works were organised about 1746 by the Baron von Langen, who was something of an arcanist; and from Höchst, in 1750, the assistance of an experienced potter, one Bengraf, was obtained. Bengraf had to escape by stealth from Höchst, where he had been in the employ of Göltz, and reached Fürstenberg after many sufferings and privations. A point of interest in connection with the porcelain made at a later time at this factory is that flour-spar (fluoride of calcium) has formed an important element in the composition of the glaze. In the Museum at Brunswick may be seen more than eight hundred specimens of this porcelain, and any want of originality is made up for by the extraordinary variety and number of the different wares that have been copied. It is not perhaps surprising, in view of the close family ties existing between the dukes and our second and third Georges, to find copies of our English soft pastes, especially of Chelsea. The clarets and maroons of this latter ware were imitated with some success. A landscape-painter of some local fame, whose works may be seen in the gallery at Brunswick, one Pascha Weitsch, was employed to paint views on this porcelain, and good portrait-busts—of Lavater and of Raphael Mengs, among others—may be found in the adjacent museum. The factory has continued in operation up to quite recent times. The Fürstenberg mark, a large F in a flowing hand (Pl. c. 30), may be observed not unfrequently on china in old collections in England. There was more than one specimen at Strawberry Hill.
Ludwigsburg.—We now come again upon the arcanist Ringler. In 1758 he was tempted away from Höchst by the Duke Karl Eugen of Würtemberg, and placed at the head of a manufactory of porcelain which had lately been established at Ludwigsburg, the Versailles or Potsdam of the dukes, situated some nine miles to the north of Stuttgart. The paste of this ware is not remarkable for purity of tint, and I do not know whether we are to believe the statement that the materials came in part from France. The enamel painting is distinguished by its high finish; on the gala services made for the court, among wreaths of flowers in low relief we find carefully painted beetles and butterflies. The little, highly finished statuettes and groups are of some merit. In the Museum of National Antiquities at Stuttgart is now to be seen an extensive collection of porcelain, purchased in 1875 from Herr Murschel, and here the Ludwigsburg ware can be well studied. The shield of Würtemberg, with its three pairs of antlers, is sometimes found on this ware (Pl. c. 35), but more often the initials of the reigning duke—or (after 1806) king—with or without a crown (Pl. c. 36). It is this last mark that has probably given rise to the absurd name of Kronenburg by which this ware is sometimes known among dealers. Soon after 1775, when the dukes abandoned Ludwigsburg as a place of residence, the factory declined in importance, but the manufacture lingered on till the year 1824.
PLATE XXXII. 1. MEISSEN. 2. LUDWIGSBURG.
Nymphenburg.—About the middle of the eighteenth century the electoral prince, Max Joseph, established some works at Neudeck, on the Au, in ducal Bavaria, and this factory, it is said, was visited and reorganised by the ubiquitous Ringler in 1756. In 1758, however, the manufactory was removed to the summer residence of Nymphenburg, near Munich. Heintzmann painted landscapes, and other artists copied famous pictures from the Munich Gallery, on the fine white ground of this porcelain. The elector-palatine inherited the ducal territory in 1778, and hither, in 1799, came many workmen from Frankenthal when the palatinate was invaded by the French. This ware is best represented in the National Museum at Munich. The works are still carried on, but they are now in private hands. The Nymphenburg porcelain may generally be recognised by the shield of Bavaria, ‘fusilly’ (Pl. c. 35), but this shield takes various forms and the mark is often very small.
Frankenthal.—Somewhat more interest attaches to the porcelain made at Frankenthal, a town of the palatinate, not far from Mannheim, if only because at its foundation we are brought into connection not only with the earlier German works, but at the same time, indirectly, it is true, with Sèvres. Here, according to one account, came Ringler, in 1751, leaving Höchst in disgust, after he had been robbed of his papers and of his secrets. At any rate, a few years later, in 1755, Paul Antoine Hannong, a member of a famous family of potters at Strassburg, was granted a privilege to found here a factory of porcelain. Hannong had graduated as a porcelain arcanist, and had already fruitlessly endeavoured to sell his secrets to the authorities at Vincennes. As the royal porcelain works, on their removal to Sèvres, now began to claim the monopoly for the whole of France, Hannong was not allowed to set up his kilns at Strassburg.
The electoral prince Karl Theodor bought the works at Frankenthal in 1761, and devoted himself to obtaining the best artists (Melchior, among others, was brought from Höchst) and most skilful potters, so that for a few years the porcelain here produced was in its way as good as any made in Germany—indeed it was attempted to rival the contemporary work of Sèvres in the delicacy of the painting and the brilliancy of the gilding. This ware is always to be associated with the Elector Karl Theodor, and its glory came to an end when, in 1778, he abandoned the palatinate on becoming elector of ducal Bavaria. The factory, however, was not finally closed till about 1800. The most usual mark is the lion-rampant crowned, from the arms of the palatinate (Pl. c. 32); the initials of Karl Theodor are also found surmounted by a crown (Pl. c. 33). There is a curious plate of this ware in the Franks collection; it bears a Latin inscription (containing a chronogram for 1775) which states that all the various colours and gilding used at the works are made use of in the decoration.
Fulda.—Porcelain was probably made at Fulda as early as the year 1741, but it was only in 1763, or perhaps even later, that the prince-bishop set up the ‘Fürstliche Fuldaische feine Porzellan-Fabrik’ close by his palace. The daintily modelled and carefully finished ware here made, marked with a double F or by a cross (Pl. c. 37 and 38), is seen occasionally in English collections. The fireclay as well as the beechwood for his kilns was obtained from the adjacent volcanic hills of the Hohe Rhön. As not only the bishop himself but the canons of the church also availed themselves somewhat freely of their privilege of appropriating whatever pleased them, as presents to their friends, a heavy loss was incurred, and the works were closed soon after the death of the founder.
Porcelain was also made during the latter half of the eighteenth century at Gotha and several other places in the neighbourhood of the Thüringer Wald. There are specimens of the ware made at many of these kilns—at Kloster Veilsdorf, at Wallendorf, at Gross Breitenbach, Limbach, Gera, and especially at Gotha—in the Franks collection of continental porcelain. A good deal of common porcelain for table use is still made at scattered factories in this district.
Strassburg.—Without committing oneself to any political parti-pris, we may conveniently say a word of the ceramic history of Strassburg at this point, although in the eighteenth century the town already belonged to France.164 The Hannong family had here from the beginning of the eighteenth century been making fayence, and this family is of interest to us as forming a link between the porcelain of Germany and that of France. Charles François Hannong, probably with the assistance of a German arcanist, attempted the manufacture of hard porcelain as early as 1721. It was his son Paul Antoine who first entered into negotiations with the French for the sale of the secret of making hard porcelain. This was in 1753. Not only did these negotiations come to nothing, but, as we have already mentioned, Hannong was hampered in his attempts to establish a porcelain factory in his native town. In 1755 we find him with the elector-palatine at Frankenthal. After his death in 1760, the factory at Strassburg was carried on for a time by his son, Pierre Antoine, but in 1766 the latter went to France and started a factory first at Vincennes, and later in the Faubourg St. Lazare, under the patronage of the Comte d’Artois. Later still we find him employed at the Vinovo works in Piedmont. His eldest son, Joseph Adam Hannong, struggled on for some time at Strassburg under the protection of the local magnate, the Cardinal de Rohan. Thus for more than sixty years four generations of this family played a prominent part in the dissemination of the knowledge of hard porcelain in Europe, although the actual wares made by them are of little importance.165
The factory at the adjacent town of Niderwiller appears to have derived its inspiration directly from Meissen. Porcelain was here made from German clay as early as the sixties. At a later time the works belonged to the Comte de Custine, and some well modelled biscuit figures, the clay for which was obtained from Limoges, were then turned out.
Switzerland.—A good deal of porcelain was made in the eighteenth century both at Zurich and at Nyon, on the Lake of Geneva. The various wares are well represented in several of the local Swiss museums.
The porcelain of Zurich belongs essentially to the Saxon group. The hard, greyish or dead-white paste, and the flowers or landscapes carefully painted in opaque colours, point at once to the origin of the ware. The factory was established as early as 1763, with the assistance of an arcanist, one Spengler, from Höchst. The Swiss poet, Solomon Gessner, took a great interest in the works, himself painting landscapes on several pieces. From Ludwigsburg also came Sonnenschein, to model some clever and lifelike figures. A coral-coloured ware made at this time was much admired. The Zurich factory did not long survive the French invasion: it was closed in 1803. This porcelain is marked in blue under the glaze with a capital Z of German form (Pl. d. 49).
At Nyon, on the other hand, the influence came from Sèvres, in later times at least, for on the earlier specimens the tulips, birds, and landscapes are of a Saxon type. The white ware, semé de fleurettes—blue violets and roses—is perhaps the most characteristic. There were probably two factories here at the end of the eighteenth century. Of these the better known one was established by Maubrée, a flower painter from Sèvres, to whom is attributed the porcelain marked with a hastily sketched fish in blue (Pl. d. 50). Some of the Nyon porcelain was decorated at Geneva, and at a later date we find more than one artist of the latter town holding an important position at Sèvres; indeed under Charles x., a Genevese, Abraham Constantin, who copied the pictures of Raphael on porcelain, was director of the art school attached to the royal factory.
Hungary.—A factory was established by Moritz Fischer at Herend, in Hungary, early in the nineteenth century. The porcelain of Herend is of especial interest to us, for Fischer appears to have mastered the problem of producing the brilliant and jewel-like enamels of the Chinese. Some of his imitations of the famille rose are excellent. He appears to have devoted himself to making coffee-cups and other small objects for the Turkish market. There is an interesting collection of his ware at South Kensington. The rouge d’or, the green and even the black grounds of the Chinese are well imitated, but the blue, sous couverte, and the iron red are not so successful. He also imitated the porcelain of Sèvres and Capo di Monte. Fischer stamped his ware with the word Herend in very small characters, and the Hungarian coat of arms is sometimes added over the glaze (Pl. c. 39).
At the time of the great porcelain fever of the eighteenth century, of which the culminating period may be held to be coincident with the Seven Years’ War (1756-63), the North of Europe—Holland, Denmark, and Russia—formed part of the great province that had its metropolis at Meissen, while the southern countries—Spain and Italy (in part)—may be said to have looked to Sèvres for their inspiration. As for England, its allegiance was divided, but at the beginning, and certainly during the best period, the French influence was predominant; and later on, as regards the materials at least, we struck out a line of our own.
Holland.—There is little of novelty or originality to be found in the hard-paste porcelain made at this time in the North of Europe. The great days of Dutch art were over long before the introduction of porcelain into Holland, and the little that was then made fell readily into the Saxon school of decoration. Somewhere about 1760 the Count of Gronsfeld Diepenbroik established some of the Meissen workmen at Weesp. The mark on this early ware is doubtless derived from the Saxon swords (Pl. c. 40). Later, when removed to Oude Loosdrecht, the works were under the superintendence of a Calvinist pastor—his name is given as Moll. The mark on his porcelain, however, M. O. L., certainly referred in the first place to the place of manufacture (Pl. c. 41). On the death of the reverend director in 1782 the factory was removed to Amsterdam, where the porcelain known generally as Oude Amstel—a name that is often made to include the other Dutch porcelain of the time—was manufactured.
At The Hague, in 1778, a company was formed to make porcelain. This was under the patronage of the local magnates. They obtained the assistance of German workmen, and took the well-known badge of their town—a stork holding a fish in its mouth—as a mark (Pl. c. 42). This was painted in blue under the glaze—for the native porcelain at least. In the case of the foreign white ware, much of which was decorated here—the soft paste of Tournai especially—the mark was painted over the glaze. The somewhat heavily decorated porcelain of the Hague, painted with landscapes, sea-pieces, and flowers, is now much sought after by the Dutch. At the time, however, the competition of both Oriental and German porcelain, of the enamelled fayence of Delft and later of the English wares, left little place in Holland for a native porcelain.
Sweden.—The fayence and soft-paste porcelain made at Marieberg and at Rörstrand—both places in the neighbourhood of Stockholm—received their inspiration from Delft and Sèvres (or rather perhaps from Mennecy) respectively. Some hard paste was also made at Marieberg about 1780. The rare specimens of this ware are of considerable artistic merit. Of the soft-paste Swedish porcelain there are some custard-cups, closely imitating the Mennecy ware, both at South Kensington and in the Franks collection. The hard porcelain (and also, it is said, a ware that appears to be of a hybrid paste) bears as a mark the three crowns of the house of Vasa (Pl. c. 44).
Denmark.—At Copenhagen there were some early attempts at a soft paste made by a Frenchman named Fournier about 1760.166 The mark—F. 5.—on this ware refers to Frederick v., the reigning king. But the famous factory of hard-paste porcelain, that has of late years shown so much enterprise and originality,167 was founded in 1772 by F. H. Müller, a chemist and Government official, the materials being obtained from the island of Bornholm. In this case the German influence came from Meissen, and also, it would seem, by way of Fürstenberg, for we hear of a certain Von Lang from that town (probably the Von Langen mentioned above), baron and arcanist, who helped in the founding of the works. The factory was taken over by the Government in 1779, and it was long worked at a loss. The mark of three wavy lines in blue on this ware stands for the Sound, the Great and the Little Belt (Pl. c. 43). The curved mouldings, radiating in sets of three from a central medallion, sometimes found on bowls and plates, may also have a similar reference. This latter decoration is shown well on a bowl at South Kensington, painted with birds and flowers in gold frames. The handsome cabarets and dinner-services produced in the eighteenth century belong to the German school of the time, and have little relation to the more recent developments about which we shall have a word to say in chapter xxiii.
Russia.—Peter the Great, at the instigation of his friend and ally, Augustus of Saxony, is said to have projected a manufactory of porcelain at St. Petersburg, but the scheme was not carried out till the time of the Empress Elizabeth. This was probably about 1756, or perhaps earlier, and she doubtless, a few years later, welcomed the Meissen potters driven out by her mortal enemy, Frederick.168 Under Catherine ii. these works rose to some importance, and among the many artists and sculptors attracted to her court, not a few—Falconet, among others—were employed as modellers or painters on porcelain. But on the whole the Russian porcelain was influenced more by Saxon models, and we hear that the gaps in the court services of Meissen ware were so well replaced by native pieces that the new dishes and plates were not to be distinguished from the old. The kaolin and the china-stone were derived from native sources.
After the Napoleonic war the manufacture of gigantic vases, in the style of those made at Sèvres under Brongniart’s régime, was attempted, and several skilful artists migrated from France. Technically the porcelain was not inferior to the hard paste of the latter country. The only mark is the initial of the reigning Emperor or Empress in Russian characters (Pl. c. 46), surmounted sometimes by a crown, but beyond these letters there is nothing Russian about the ware. The factory, which is still carried on, has always been an appanage of the court, and its chief produce has consisted in gala pieces for imperial presents.