| Biography/History: |
Meissen (also known as Dresden) porcelain, is a hard-paste porcelain produced at the Meissen factory near Dresden, Germany (formerly known as Saxony) from 1710 until the present. It was the first successfully produced true porcelain in Europe, after decades of attempts to imitate the popular, imported porcelains made in China. Although Meissen makes porcelain in different forms and artistic styles, the company is best known for its intricate Rococo figurines; the factory reached a high point between 1731 and 1775 under sculptor Johann Joachin Kandler. An underglaze blue decoration called Zwiebelmuster, or onion pattern, was introduced about 1739 and was widely copied. Meissen dominated the European true porcelain manufacture until around 1756 when leadership passed to France’s Sèvres porcelain. Meissen porcelain is marked with crossed blue swords, and still produces the most expensive porcelain in the world. |