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18th Century European Porcelain

Collection Info
18th Century European Porcelain

In the late seventeenth century, “porcelain fever” broke out in Europe. Princes and wealthy merchants were consumed by the passion to collect and use Asian porcelain. Imported porcelain from China and Japan was expensive and was perceived as a tangible sign of prestige and taste.

It was only after many experiments that porcelain was made in Europe.

Two types of porcelain were made in Europe: high-fired “hard paste” porcelain, first made in China and later in Europe, which contained kaolin, and low-fired “soft-paste” porcelain which did not. All porcelain is white, translucent and resonant; hard-paste porcelain and some varieties of soft-paste can withstand the thermal shock of boiling liquids.

In the 1680s, experiments led to the first commercially viable manufactory of soft-paste porcelain in Europe at Saint-Cloud, outside Paris. It was only after extensive experiments in Saxony by an alchemist, Johann Friedrich Böttger, and a physicist, Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, that the first European hard-paste porcelain was made, resulting in the founding of the Meissen porcelain manufactory in 1710.

Soft-paste porcelain manufactories were established in France, England, Italy and Spain in the mid-eighteenth century, but eventually the technology of hard-paste porcelain spread and became dominant in continental Europe.

18th Century European Porcelain Collections:

Austrian Porcelain

English Porcelain

French Porcelain

German Porcelain

Italian Porcelain

Swiss Porcelain

Other European Porcelain

Commedia dell'Arte Figures

Hausmaler-decorated porcelain

Scent Bottles

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133 results
Dancing Columbine
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1740; decorated c.1760-1802
Object number: G83.1.902
Scowling Harlequin
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
19th century
Object number: G91.7.72
Plate with portrait of Horoldt
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1800
Object number: G96.5.322
Tea bowl and saucer
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1720; decorated in Dresden, c.1725-1730
Object number: G83.1.580.1-2
Tankard
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1723-1726
Object number: G83.1.585
Vase and cover
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1730
Object number: G83.1.587a-b
Coffee cup and saucer
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1735
Object number: G83.1.590a-b
Coffee cup and saucer with chinoiserie design
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1735-1740
Object number: G83.1.591a-b
Milk jug with chinoiserie design
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1735-1740
Object number: G83.1.592a-b
Teapot of pomegranate form
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1740
Object number: G83.1.593.1-2
Pair of covered "lotus" bowls
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1725-1730
Object number: G83.1.595.1a-b-2a-b
Pair of octagonal bottles
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1728
Object number: G83.1.598.1-2
Octagonal teacup and saucer
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1730
Object number: G83.1.600.1-2
Pair of covered hexagonal jars
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1730
Object number: G83.1.601.1a-b -2 a-b
Pair of "Turkish" ewers
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1730
Object number: G83.1.603.1a-b -2a-b
Covered jar with harbour scenes
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1728-1730
Object number: G83.1.605a-b
Pair of two-handled cups and saucers with harbour scenes
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1735
Object number: G83.1.606.1a-b -2a-b
Bowl with harbour scenes
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1735-1740
Object number: G83.1.611
Pair of small beakers and saucers
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1735
Object number: G83.1.612.1a-b -2a-b
Tea bowl and saucer with harbour scenes
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1735-1740
Object number: G83.1.613a-b
Tea and coffee service with harbour scenes
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1740
Object number: G83.1.615.1-19
Hot water urn with landscapes
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1740-1745
Object number: G83.1.618a-b
Pair of teacups and saucers with harbour scenes
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1740-1745
Object number: G83.1.619.1a-b -2a-b
Coffee cup and saucer with flora
Artist / Maker: Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
c.1740-1745
Object number: G83.1.621.1-2