9 ◄ Detail from cat. 77 A MYSTERIOUS MATERIAL BAROQUE VIENNA AND ITS PORCELAIN MANUFACTORY STEPHAN KOJA Hardly any other material reflects the aesthetic and zeitgeist of the eighteenth century as porcelain does. And almost no other porcelain manufactory in Europe embodied the spirit of the city in which it brought forth its creations in such a fascinating manner as did Du Paquier. From 1683, following centuries of conflict, once the threat of Ottoman expansion that had endangered the very existence of the Empire had been finally averted, Vienna and the Austrian Crown Lands saw all energies being devoted to the work of reconstruction and economic development. These endeavours were underpinned by the nobility, who in the spirit of mercantilism maximized the yields of their agricultural estates, developed innovative production techniques and opened up new fields of business. As a result, towns and cities in particular experienced a huge economic upturn which resulted in a veritable building boom. Edifices of hitherto unseen magnificence arose, asserting the political and social aspirations of the individuals who had commissioned them. The age was also marked by a desire for encyclopaedic knowledge and a deeper understanding of the physical world. The consequence was ambitious alchemistic research, sponsored or even personally undertaken by the aristocracy itself – not a few Viennese palaces had their own laboratories and furnaces for such investigations and experiments. The new prosperity
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTMyNjA1