13 giving rise to striking combinations in playful and extravagant creations – for example, when carps, salamanders, lions, panthers and dragons served as knobs, handles, feet or simply decoration on their porcelain wares. The fact that the Du Paquier manufactory tended to concentrate on the making of elaborate single pieces rather than following the principle of serial production would seem to indicate that it aimed at repeatedly astonishing their clientele with ingenious creations. The inherent financial risk of this strategy was ultimately to lead to the enterprise falling deeply into debt. The burgeoning trade connections with the distant countries had also brought new beverages to Europe that soon became highly fashionable. Appreciated both for their agreeable taste and for their exoticism, they demanded vessels that expressed their distinctiveness. It was thus a serendipitous coincidence that European porcelain was invented at precisely this juncture, its material qualities making it particularly suited for the enjoyment of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. At the same time porcelain enabled these cups and small bowls to be made in shapes that ensured ease of use while also lending additional noblesse to the act of consumption. The Du Paquier manufactory made its mark here with sumptuously decorated trembleuses, intended for drinking hot chocolate first thing in the morning and served on a matching saucer furnished with a gallery to prevent the cup from tipping over. As well as vessels for hot beverages and dining and dessert wares, the new material was also used for a wide range of other objects: beer tankards, bottles for wine, schnapps and liqueurs, perfume bottles, snuff and tobacco boxes, writing utensils, clock cases, looking-glass frames, candlesticks, candelabras and chandeliers, boxes for packs of cards, walking cane handles and religious figures for private devotions. The manufactory decorated these objects with its opulent Laub- und Bandelwerk or with a profusion of European flowers seemingly scattered at random over the surface, a decor that became something of a Du Paquier trademark. These patterns have a graciousness and a natural charm suffused by lightheartedness. Nonetheless, the decoration could also be restrained, exquisite and thoroughly elegant, for example when monochrome schwarzlot painting was highlighted with sparing, carefully placed gold highlights, such as in the hunting service made for the Princes of Liechtenstein. As the triumph of porcelain in the eighteenth century led to it becoming more affordable and gradually spreading to ever wider reaches of society, European dining culture changed for good. Today porcelain is so ubiquitous that we hardly ever give it a thought. Yet in terms of hygiene and styles of living this material catapulted humanity into a new era. That it also became one of the most appealing and original forms of artistic media is in no small measure to the credit of the Du Paquier manufactory. My especial thanks for the realization of this exhibition project, which thematically and aesthetically goes to the heart of princely collecting and the spirit of Vienna in the Baroque era, are due to His Serene Highness Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein and His Serene Highness Hereditary Prince Alois von und zu Liechtenstein for their generous support, as well as to the public and private collections from Austria, Europe and the United States who have generously provided loans to the exhibition, above all to the MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna, which has placed a large number of important objects at our disposal. I thank my co-curators Claudia Lehner-Jobst and Iris Yvonne Wagner, and the Princely Collections team, who have expedited the realization of this ambitious exhibition with the highest degree of professionalism, and the authors who have contributed to the catalogue, illuminating a wide variety of aspects afforded by this rich theme in their essays. Cordial thanks are also due to exhibition designer Marcus Lilge and Sandstein Verlag for the elegant presentation of the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue. ◄ Detail from cat. 56 Cat. 104 ►
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