Antique German and Austrian Pottery
Germany and Austria
Until at least 1770 the pottery fashions in Europe were dictated by those of China and Japan. These wares were imported into Europe in increasing quantities and dominated popular taste until the rise of first Meissen, then Sevres.
For many years a great deal of wealth was spent in the purchase of Far Eastern pottery for use at the court of Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland. In order to try to remedy this vast expenditure, Count von Tschirnhaus was given the task of researching into the mineral wealth of Saxony, in an effort to produce the necessary materials for the manufacture of a true pottery and fine glass, which at that time was only being made in Bohemia. From 1704, Tschirnhaus was assisted in his experiments by a young alchemist, Johann Friedrich Bottger, who claimed to possess the secret of producing gold from a base metal. Their first combined success was to produce a hard fine-grained stoneware, which could be ground and polished in the manner of a semi-precious stone. This red stoneware had the appearance of the Chinese Yi-hsing ware, usually used to produce the teapots for the European market. Some of Bottger’s lower-fired red wares remained porous and so were given a dark-brown glaze, with added gold or lacquer decoration.
Tschirnhaus died in 1708, leaving Bottger to take all the credit for the production of a form of white pottery, resulting in the establishment in 1710 of the Royal Saxon pottery Manufactory, in the Albrechtsburg fortress at Meissen, 12 miles from the city of Dresden. The early Meissen pottery was made from the white-burning China-clay (kaolin) from Colditz, near Zwickau, and a calcareous flux in the form of alabaster. It was in about 1718 that the correct material of China-stone (petuntse) was put to use, resulting in the Saxon hard-paste pottery being an even whiter ware than that made in the Far East.
The early white potterys produced prior to the death of Bottger, in 1719, were mostly inspired by contemporary metalwork, sometimes from the designs of the court silversmith, Irminger. The figures were often modelled after the 17th century prints of Jacques Callot’s grotesque dwarfs, who were a favourite subject in the early 18th century, when there was a morbid curiosity in those suffering from various afflictions.
The year 1720 marked a further milestone in their success, being the time Johann Gregor Horoldt was introduced to the factory by the disloyal kiln-master, Samuel Stolzel. He persuaded Horoldt to leave the services of De Paquier at the early rival pottery factory of Vienna. Within two years, the influence of Horoldt was clearly seen in their improved decoration. A new range of vivid enamel colours was used in a wide variety of patterns, including copies from engravings telling of Far Eastern travel, and far more original chinoiseries – fairy-land fantasies based on the Court and social life of China (Horoldt’s original sketches still exist).
The new enamel colours were also used to depict stylized oriental flowers. These were wrongly termed ‘India flowers’, as they were developed from paintings on late 17th century Chinese pottery brought to Europe by the vessels of the East India Companies. These oriental flowers were replaced in about 1740 with naturalistic flower paintings, often inspired by the engravings of recorded botanists. Between 1725 and 1730, harbour-scenes and landscapes were also extremely popular and many are attributed to the painters J. G. Heintze and C. F. Herold.
In 1727 Gottlieb Kirchner was appointed as the first Chief Modeller, his earliest creations being the life-size figures of animals, as requested by Augustus for the furnishing of his Japanese Palace. Kirchner was soon to be overshadowed by the more famous modeller J. J. Kaendler, who was appointed in 1731. Kaendler excelled not only in decorative figures for table decoration, but in designing other large heavily modelled table-wares, including the famous Swan Service for Count Bruhl, who was appointed Director of the factory following the death of Augustus II in 1733. This was a post he retained until he died in 1763.
By 1738 Kaendler had produced a wide variety of small pottery figures based upon characters featured in the traditional theatre of Italian Comedy, made to ‘wander among groves of curled paper . . .’ (Horace Walpole, 1753). These figures were far more animated when placed upon the simple mound bases of the Baroque period, but by 1750 the more ornate bases, in the now popular Rococo styles, seemed to arrest their movement.
The Meissen factory was occupied by the troops of Frederick the Great of Prussia at the start of the Seven Years’ War of 1756-63 and by the end of hostilities the pottery factories of Europe were looking towards the French factory of Sevres for fresh inspiration. Meissen was never to recover fully from this disaster, but during the so-called `Marcolini’ period of 1774-1814, novel shapes were produced in the Neo-classical taste. But pottery was not an ideal body for such fashions, which were inspired by the early Grecian wares excavated at Herculaneum and Pompeii.
The success of the Vienna factory was due entirely to the disloyalty of the Meissen gilder, Hunger, and the kiln-master, Stolzel, who in 1719 deserted Meissen in order to help Du Paquier produce a good quality hard-paste pottery in Austria. The factory was taken over by the State under Empress Maria Theresa in 1744. It remained under State direction until 1784, when the concern came under the management of Konrad von Sorgenthal, eventually closing in 1866. The unmarked wares of the Du Paquier period were mostly decorated in original chinoiseries and Baroque versions of the popular leaf and strapwork designs (Laub-undBandelwerk).
The tablewares of the State period showed very little originality and owed much to Meissen. However, the figures tended to have a slightly prettier and more doll-like quality, a charm often lacking in the bold and sometimes harsh work of Kaendler.
Angry Harlequin figure by Kaendler c.1738.
By the middle of the 18th century the materials and techniques concerning the manufacture of hard-paste pottery was no longer a secret, and those possessing the knowledge were well paid by heads of other German States to part with their knowledge. Johann Josef Ringler, who obtained the secret at Vienna by ‘courting’ the Director’s daughter, is known to have helped in the establishment of at least six other factories.
The collectors of German pottery are fortunate in that nearly all the major 18th century factories adopted a recognized factory-mark, which was usually applied to the base of the wares in underglaze-blue. Without this aid, attribution to a particular concern would in most instances be very difficult.
Hochst, making pottery from 1750, adopted as their mark a six-spoked wheel, often reproduced on 19th century wares made elsewhere. Their early figures, attributed to the hand of Simon Feilner, are of a rather coarse pottery, with a milky-white glaze, but their tablewares were beautifully painted with flowers, landscapes or chinoiseries, with fine quality gilding.
By 1752 Duke Carl I of Brunswick was sponsoring a factory at Furstenberg, where some good figures are attributed to the hand of Simon Feilner, but the tablewares tended to be extremely fussy. The Furstenberg factory continues to the present time, still using a version of the original letter ‘F’ as the factory-mark.
A further factory still in production today is that of Berlin, started in 1761 by J. C. Gotzkowsky and purchased by Frederick the Great in 1763. Many skilled workers were recruited from Meissen, and their early wares, which relied primarily on fine painting, are most attractive and original. The mark remains a sceptre in blue.
Paul Hannong established the pottery factory at Frankenthal in 1753, having had to abandon his production at Strasbourg due to the monopolies enjoyed by Vincennes. Hannong’s early wares tended to be fashioned in the contemporary French styles of Vincennes and Sevres, but lacked the quality of the fine French soft-paste. The factory passed into the hands of the Elector Carl Theodor in 1762 and continued until 1800. The original moulds are being used today at the Nymphenburg factory, Bavaria. While one must accept Kaendler as the outstanding modeller during the Baroque period, there is little doubt that Franz Anton Bustelli, who worked at Nymphenburg from 1754, was the master of Rococo pottery sculpture. His models clearly indicate by their carving and postures that he had been trained initially as a woodcarver. Some of his best work is seen in the form of centrepieces for the table, where the entire group appears to be stirring in a placid wave-like motion. The Nymphenburg shield is still used as a factory-mark on modern wares produced from early moulds.
The factory, patronized originally by Duke Carl Eugen, was established in 1758. It cannot be said that it flourished, as the workers were at times compelled to accept their wages in ’seconds’ (faulty wares) which they in turn had to sell. The wares of this Ludwigsburg factory can at times be easily recognized by a rather off-white clay, but mention must be made of a charming series of miniature groups, modelled by J. J. Louis. There are several characters in a scene, such as men playing dice, Soft paste pottery Mennecy teapot.
tailors at work and inn scenes, all of which show great depth of detail despite the diminutive scale.