Assess The Importance And Influence Of The Meissen

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Assess the importance and influence of the Meissen Factory on figure production in England in the mid-18th century [pic] Two monkies dressed in human clothing, one in the guise of a female singer, the other as a male musician with two drums on his back. Chelsea c.1760, gold anchor mark. Based on originals made by J.J. Kändler at Meissen c. 1747 Known as the ‘Affenkapelle’ Introduction – Meissen Figure production The story of hard paste porcelain in Europe and the first tentative steps in figure production began in the early years of the 18th century at Dresden in Germany. It was here that the first true “hard paste” European porcelain was made. The discovery of the Chinese secret was due to the collaboration of a member of the Saxon court, Count Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651 – 1708), with the assistance of the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682 – 1719). Experimental porcelain was produced in 1708, and by 1710, after the death of von Tschirnhaus, Böttger was producing true porcelain body and glaze as well as red stoneware known as Böttgersteinzeug. Figures during the Böttger years [pic] Arlecchino modelled by Balthazar Permoser. Böttger stoneware, c. 1710-12 Figure production during the Böttger period was generally undecorated but examples do exist of Italian Comedy figures in both red stoneware as well as white porcelain with enamel decoration. However, the main inspiration was the Chinese porcelain figures being imported on a large scale into Europe. Figures such as the Goddess Kuan-Yin and God Laotse as well as Pu-tai Ho-shang where copied from the Chinese originals and were produced in both red stoneware and white porcelain. These figures were copied at Chelsea and below, for comparison, is an original Tê hua blanc-de-Chine model of Pu-tai Ho-shang, a Böttger white porcelain Meissen copy c. 1715 and a ‘Grotesque Chinaman’

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