Viennese porcelain manufactory
The Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur (Imperial Privileged Porcellain Fabrique) was a porcelain manufacturer in Vienna - Alsergrund , which was founded in 1718 and existed until 1864; it was the second oldest porcelain manufacturer in Europe after Meissen .
Du Paquier period (1718–1744)
In January 1710, the Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Porcelain Manufactory was founded in Albrechtsburg in Meißen , where the first porcelain in Europe and the first hard-paste porcelain in the world were produced. The manufacture of Meissen porcelain was a well-protected secret.
Nevertheless, in 1718 the Austrian court war council agent Claudius Innocentius du Paquier (1678–1751) managed to find out about the production secret. With the help of the imperial ambassador to the Polish-Saxon court, Damian Hugo von Virmont , he was able to lure some of the craftsmen from Meissen to Vienna through diplomatic channels and in 1718 set up a porcelain factory, the second in Europe.
Of particular importance was the commitment of the Meissen porcelain chemist ( arcanist ) Samuel Stöltzel (1685–1737), who had fled to Vienna for personal reasons. He was promised an annual salary of 1,000 guilders, a vacant apartment and an equipage . He was responsible for the porcelain mass and the procurement of the "Schnorrschen Erde" ( kaolin ), which was the first step in starting Du Paquier's porcelain production. On April 7, 1720, however, Stöltzel fled Vienna, although he had committed himself for 10 years, and brought porcelain paints and color formulations with him to Meissen from Vienna. Before he fled, he destroyed the Viennese kilns and made the existing porcelain mass unusable, resulting in damage of around 15,000 thalers. However, the manufactory was able to quickly resume production.
The Viennese porcelain factory of Claudius du Paquier was initially located in the Gräflich Kueffsteinisches Haus in the suburb of Rossau in the area of today's Liechtensteinstrasse 43 in 1718. In 1721 the company was relocated to the Breuner Summer Palace ; the factory finally extended from today's Porzellangasse 51 to today's Julius-Tandler-Platz. The factory initially employed ten workers. The company was run by four managing directors: the founder Claudius du Paquier, the court war agent Peter Heinrich Zerder, the Viennese merchant Martin Becker and the art worker Christoph Conrad Hunger; the latter had also "deserted" from Meissen, but left Vienna again in 1720.
With the establishment of the porcelain company, Emperor Karl VI. on May 27, 1718 a "Special Privilegium", which Du Paquier's manufactory placed under a 25-year protection and granted her a monopoly on the rights of porcelain manufacture within the Habsburg lands. The imperial court in Vienna was particularly interested in setting up a porcelain factory, as this enabled Chinese imported goods to face domestic competition, and capital remained in the country. The late baroque style of the manufacture is still called the "Du Paquier period" today.
The manufactory's economic success was unsatisfactory from the start; In 1728 the company had to take out a loan of 18,000 guilders from the city of Vienna. In 1743, after 25 years of privilege, the company was heavily in debt with an outstanding balance of 45,459 guilders, and Du Paquier was forced to sell his business. Under Empress Maria Theresa , the manufacture came into Aryan possession with effect from May 10, 1744 and was nationalized. Under her rule, the use of the Austrian shield in blue color was introduced, with which each piece was provided at the bottom as a forgery protection. This feature was glazed with the rest of the product after it was applied so that it cannot be removed.
In this first period one often finds forms that go back to East Asian models; other models use the forms of the gold and silversmiths of that time. A small group of porcelains shows shapes that are exclusively restricted to Vienna and that are the manufacture's own work. In the beginning, the surfaces of Viennese porcelain were seldom the dazzling white that characterized Meißen products. The manufactory had no kaolin stores nearby , so that the earth often had to be moved from far away. The products do not show a uniform glaze tone and usually have a cream-colored, mild gloss.
Porcelain room
The Viennese porcelain manufactory produced for the imperial court as well as for the nobility. This was by far one of the most important works of the manufacture for Countess Maria Antonia von Czobor, a born princess of Liechtenstein . Around 1700, so-called “porcelain cabinets” became modern in Europe, and they were furnished by Countess von Czobor in the Brno palace she had acquired . The porcelain room from what was later to become the Dubsky Palace in Brno has one of the first room furnishings to feature European porcelain. The room contains over 1,500 pieces of porcelain that must have been made between the years 1720 and 1735. Investigations into the wall paneling have shown that the interior was originally made for a different, unknown location and was only later adapted to the Brno Palace in its dimensions. In 1912 the porcelain room was purchased for the collection of the Imperial and Royal Austrian Museum for Art and Industry in Vienna (now the Museum of Applied Arts ).
Plastic period (1744–1784)
During this time, the manufactory produced products in the typically playful Rococo style , inspired by the work of the French painter Antoine Watteau . The phase from 1744 to 1784 is referred to as the "plastic period" because this is the period when figural Rococo porcelain art flourished; Franz Joseph Wolf von Rosenfeld was the director during this period. The outstanding artist of this era was the sculptor Johann Joseph Niedermayer, a student of Georg Raphael Donner , who worked as a model master in the manufactory from 1747–1784.
Picturesque period (1784–1805)
During the classical period from 1784 to 1805 Conrad Sörgel von Sorgenthal was director of the manufactory, from which the name “Sorgenthal porcelain” is derived. In keeping with the spirit of the times, the focus was on products with simple, straight lines, without embellishments and little ornamentation in subtle white. Popular motifs came from nature, such as cornucopia , acanthus leaf tendrils and palmettes . In this "painterly period" the special quality of the porcelain painting is striking, with the frequent use of relief gold decoration and cobalt blue. 1795 had the head of the painting on the Vienna porcelain manufacturer, Josef Leithner , by calcination of aluminum sulfate and cobalt (II) nitrate , the cobalt blue discovered that represents one of the best and most durable porcelain colors. It is also known as Leithners Blau or Thénards Blau . From 1793 Leithner developed several bronze colors for porcelain, including Leithner gold .
Biedermeier (1805-1833)
The wars under Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 19th century brought the manufactory to the brink of ruin. With the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15 an upswing set in again. The numerous lavish parties in Vienna with international guests caused the demand for high-quality porcelain to skyrocket. The porcelain was often passed on as gifts. The Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. and Tsar Alexander I visited the factory. Directors during this period were Matthias Niedermayer (1805–1827) and Benjamin von Scholz (1827–1833).
Late Biedermeier (1833–1864)
In the late Biedermeier and early historic times, the range of customers from court and nobility was supplemented by the bourgeoisie. Growing self-confidence and prosperity also made this class strive to own Viennese porcelain. During this time, motifs with flowers were particularly popular. The directors were Andreas von Baumgartner (1833–1842), Franz von Leithner (1842–1855) and Alexander Löwe (1856–1864).
Decline
Despite great popularity, the highest quality and its status as an imperial and royal purveyor , the manufactory could not withstand the changing times. With increasing industrialization and cheap mass production from Bohemia , corporate losses increased. In 1864 the factory had to be closed. The buildings were demolished in the following years; in its place is the building of the General Directorate of the Tobacco Directorate (built 1903–1905). In 1862, the Porzellangasse in Alsergrund (9th district) was named after the Viennese porcelain factory.
The draft sketches for the production were included in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna.
The Augarten Porcelain Manufactory, founded in 1923, continues the tradition of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory and produces a. a. Replicas of their designs.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Meredith Chilton (Ed.): Fired by Passion. Baroque Viennese porcelain by the Claudius Innocentius du Paquier manufactory. Volume 1: Du Paquier porcelain. History, style and influences. Arnold, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-89790-308-1 , pp. 151-152.
- ^ Wilhelm Mrazek : Viennese porcelain from the Du Paquiers manufactory (1718–1744) (= writings of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts. 3, ZDB -ID 2542686-2 ). Verlag des Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna 1952, p. 2 f.
- ↑ Johann Kräftner (ed.): Baroque luxury porcelain. The Du Paquier manufactories in Vienna and Carlo Ginori in Florence. Prestel et al., Munich et al. 2005, ISBN 3-7913-3500-6 .
- ^ Wilhelm Mrazek: Viennese porcelain from the Du Paquiers manufactory (1718–1744) (= writings of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts. 3, ZDB -ID 2542686-2 ). Verlag des Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna 1952, p. 4 f.
- ↑ Gustav Otruba : Invention, technical transfer and innovation in manufacturing and mining in Austria. In: Ulrich Troitzsch (ed.): Technological change in the 18th century (= Wolfenbütteler research. 14). Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel 1981, ISBN 3-88373-018-1 , pp. 73-103, here p. 90.
literature
- Reinhard Engel, Marta S. Halpert : Luxury from Vienna. = Luxury from Vienna. Volume 2: From the designer lamp to the concert grand piano - traditional and modern from a master hand. Czernin, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-7076-0142-0 .
- Waltraud Neuwirth : Brand Lexicon for Applied Arts. Volume 4: Austria. Viennese porcelain. Painter numbers, embossing letters and numbers, whitening and capsule turning numbers. 1744-1864. Neuwirth, Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-900282-11-0 .
- Waltraud Neuwirth: Porcelain from Vienna. From du Paquier to the factory in Augarten. Youth and Volk, Vienna et al. 1974, ISBN 3-8113-6084-1 .
- Waltraud Neuwirth: Viennese porcelain. Original, copy, falsification, forgery. Neuwirth, Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-900282-08-0 .
- Waltraud Neuwirth, Alfred Kölbel, Maria Auböck: The Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten. Youth and Volk, Vienna 1992, ISBN 3-85058-067-9 .
- Wilfried Seipel (Ed.): White gold from Europe. The history of porcelain using the example of the great European manufacturers. An exhibition of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. Vienna, Palais Harrach, November 24, 1997 - February 1, 1998. Skira, Milan 1997, ISBN 3-900325-79-0 .
- Wilhelm Siemens (Ed.): Impulse. European porcelain manufacturers as pioneers of international lifestyle (= publications and catalogs of the German Porcelain Museum. 44). Zweckverband Dt. Porcelain Museum , Hohenberg / Eger 1995, ISBN 3-927793-43-4 .
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 13 ′ 29 " N , 16 ° 21 ′ 40.8" E