60 German Manufacturers –→ Table of Contents Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH Meissen (Saxony)98 formerly Königliche Porcellain Fabrique 1710 to the present day The enormous number of publications with in-depth information on the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory is indicative of its widespread popularity and the important role it played in the development of European porcelain. This chapter will focus on a few key events in the company’s history.99 1701 Johann Friedrich Böttger (February 4, 1682, Schleitz – March 13, 1719, Dresden) was a trained pharmacist who had earned a reputation as an alchemist. In 1701, he attempted to produce gold during a public demonstration in Berlin. In order to escape a summons by the Prussian king, Böttger fled to Wittenberg, where he fell into the hands of “Augustus the Strong” (1670–1733), Elector of Saxony (as Frederick Augustus I) and King of Poland (as Augustus II). Augustus had Böttger brought to Dresden, where he was ordered to continue his experiments aimed at producing gold. Unsuccessful in his work, Böttger fled again in 1703. He was recaptured in Bohemia and then transferred in 1705 to the Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen for temporary detention. 1707 After a laboratory had been set up in a building of the Jungfernbastei (or “Venusbastei,” a bastion of the Dresden city fortifications), Böttger was tasked with cracking the secret of Chinese porcelain with guidance and assistance from Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651–1708), a physicist and mathematician who had been conducting experiments aimed at the development of porcelain. Their work was supervised by the Kammerrat (privy councilor) Michael Nehmitz. Their first results were the production of a marbled stoneware (Jaspisporzellan) and a brownish red stoneware known as Böttger stoneware (Böttgersteinzeug). 1708 According to Böttger’s laboratory notes, the men succeeded in producing the first European, white hard-paste porcelain on January 15, 1708. On March 28, 1709, he informed Augustus the Strong of their success. ■■ 1710 Königliche Porcellain Fabrique On January 23rd, the Saxon Court Chancellery under Augustus I issued a decree in four languages announcing the invention of the first European hard-paste porcelain and the founding of a porcelain manufactory in Dresden. On March 7th, a decision was taken to move the company to the Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen for security reasons. The production facilities would remain there until 1865. The administrator was Böttger, and the first director, Michael Nehmitz. In the early years, the company’s main products included copies of Asian porcelains, figures, pieces based on designs by silversmiths, and replicas of silver coins. 1718 The Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur (1718–1864) was established in Vienna after two Meissen employees, Christoph Conrad Hunger (verified employment between 1717 and 1748) and Samuel Stöltzel (1685–1737) disclosed the arcana for the body preparation, kiln construction, and firing process. W A square in front of the date indicates that the events of this period are particularly relevant to the history of lithophane production. In this section on Meissen, the number that sometimes appears in parentheses behind the plaque number is the manufacturer’s in-house designation for the respective molder (German: Ausformer).
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