13 The advent of blue-and-white in Meissen The history of the Blue Onion Pattern is intertwined with the evolution of blue-and-white decoration and its special visual allure on porcelain. The China craze in Europe was at its height in the early 18th century. Augustus the Strong, Prince Elector of Saxony and King in Poland, was captivated by East Asian porcelains painted in blue. He demanded that his own manufactory produce ware of similar quality with which to decorate his “porcelain castle”, a property in Dresden initially known as a Dutch and subsequently as a Japanese Palace. It was the Elector’s zeal that paved the way for the re-invention of porcelain in Europe. His call for Meissen porcelains on a par with those from East Asia galvanised efforts to master the technique of painting in underglaze cobalt blue. A huge amount of preparatory endeavour was, however, required before the cobalt blue used yielded satisfactory results. From a very early stage, Johann Friedrich Böttger himself (1682 –1719) conducted trials to obtain the blue desired. In a report drafted in 1715, he enumerated a variety of shades of blue and detailed their strengths and weaknesses, though without divulging their composition or achieving the breakthrough hoped for. The first evidence of the technique having been mastered came in around 1717, when David Köhler (1683 –1723) and Samuel Stöltzel (1685 –1737) were able to present the King with a small saucer-dish decorated in underglaze blue.1 By May 1719, more than 700 blue-and-white porcelains were already in stock at the Manufactory and its sales warehouses in Dresden and Leipzig.2 Johann Gregorius Höroldt (1696 –1775) was recruited as a porcelain painter in May 1720 and, soon thereafter, Johann Georg Heintze (1706 [07] – year of death unknown) was taken on as an apprentice. Johann Caspar Ripp (1681 –1726) was also active in Höroldt’s workshop for a short time from September to November 1720. Following a brief stay at Zerbst during which he set up the faience pottery there, Ripp went to the Eggebrecht faience pottery in Dresden early in 1722, whence he returned to Meissen in May of that year. He recommenced his duties as a blue-painter in Höroldt’s workshop but was dismissed in April 1723 for allegedly being a drunkard, whereupon he returned to Zerbst. He protested against his dismissal and, amongst other things, drew up a list of the porcelains he had produced as proof of his industriousness. He painted around 4,806 items3 whilst employed in Höroldt’s workshop, many of them smaller porcelains, but also including large mantelshelf garnitures.4 Ripp was
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