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New Portico Gallery Opens with Selections of Meissen Porcelain from Henry H. Arnhold's Promised Gift and Two Sculptures by Houdon
December 13, 2011, through January 6, 2013

"Red Porcelain"

Despite the successful firing of white porcelain in 1708, five years were needed to perfect the paste and glaze. From 1710 to about 1713, the newly founded royal factory of Meissen produced Böttger's earlier invention of red-colored stoneware, called at the time "red porcelain."

Although their basic shape derived mostly from Augustus the Strong's silver and Asian porcelain collections, objects of greater originality often inspired their decoration. Marbleized paste replicated the polished hard-stone vessels highly prized by European princes, while black glazes evoked rare export lacquerwork. An example of the latter is the teapot with cover (below), with an engraved blank armorial decoration.

Black-Glazed Teapot with Cover Meissen stoneware, c. 1710–13 Engraving executed in Dresden or Bohemia The Arnhold Collection Photograph: Michael Bodycomb

Introduction

The Portico Gallery

The Arnhold Collection

Meissen Porcelain

"Red Porcelain"

Chinoiserie-Style Porcelain

Japanese and Japanese-Inspired Ware

Hausmaler

The Frick Collection

Sèvres Vase Japon

Diana the Huntress

On Loan

The Dead Thrush

Virtual Tour

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