Several museums dedicate special exhibitions to the history of Porcelain in Germany.
Topic “MEISSEN PORCELAIN”:
Meissen travel guide for the Porcelain anniversary year
To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, Saxon Elbland Tourist information has published a travel guide for the places associated with Meissen porcelain.
Entitled “Weisses Gold erleben” (In Search of White Gold), this brochure is available free of charge.
It not only contains fascinating facts about the history of Meissen porcelain, but also details commemorative exhibitions, events during the anniversary year
and holiday offers. Three-night accommodation packages for individual travellers, group itineraries and day tours can be booked directly through Saxon Elbland Tourist information. Many of these short breaks combine the aesthetic delights of porcelain with culinary delights: at selected restaurants, regional specialities are presented and served on Meissen sets.
Among the new packages is a cycling tour from Meissen to the baroque city of Dresden, passing steep vineyard terraces along the Elbe river. Holidaymakers
can look forward to a host of attractions in Dresden, including the Procession of Dukes – a frieze of Meissen tiles in the old quarter measuring 102 metres in length – and the porcelain collection at Zwinger Palace, the world’s most comprehensive collection of specialist ceramics. For those with a creative streak, the Elbland holiday region offers a taster course in porcelain painting at the Meissen manufactory studio. Food and wine connoisseurs can learn more about Meissen porcelain at a Saxony vineyard guesthouse: the Saxon wine cooperative, for example, hosts a series of ‘Porcelain & Wine’ events.
Information
Saxon Elbland Tourist information
Fabrikstrasse 16, 01662 Meissen
Tel.: +49 (0)3521 76350
Fax: +49 (0)3521 763 540
http://www.elbland.de/
The exhibition – entitled Exotic Worlds.
From 12 March to 13 June, as part of the tricentennial celebrations for Meissen’s Porcelain Manufactory, Leipzig’s Grassi Museum of Applied Art is putting one of its finest treasures on display: the Schulz Codex, a collection of 124 pattern sample books with more than 1,000 individual sketches of Chinoiserie.
They originate from the prominent Meissen porcelain painter Johann Gregorius Höroldt (1696-1775) and other painters in his workshop.
The Schulz-Codex and early Meissen porcelain – will put all these drawings on display together for the very first time. They have previously been kept in storage for reasons of conservation.
When the Meissen Manufactory was still in its infancy, these sketches served as templates for the porcelain painters who worked there, and today rank as some of the most valuable items held by the museum.
All the major porcelain collections around the world continually make reference to the Schulz Codex as the quintessential book of patterns.
The exhibition is joined by examples of rare porcelain from the early days of Meissen production, which were painted according to these sketches. Other items on show illustrate the Chinoiserie trend that influenced the world of arts and crafts during the 18th century.
Tribute is also paid to the special role played by Leipzig and its trade fair in the spread of Meissen porcelain in the early 18th century.
The museum is open from Tuesdays to Sundays and on public holidays from 10am to 6pm. Admission costs €6.00; concessions €3.00, free for children up to the age of 16.
Information
GRASSI Museum für Angewandte Kunst
Johannisplatz 5-11, 04103 Leipzig
Tel.: +49 (0)341 222 9100
http://www.grassimuseum.de/
Meissen porcelain in Cologne
To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, Cologne’s Museum of Applied Art is showing a magnificent, privately owned
porcelain collection which has never before been on public display. Around 280 exquisite and extremely rare pieces from the 18th century will be on public
display until 25 April 2010. These shed light on the diverse means of production at the famous factory as well as the culture and attitudes of the baroque era.
The exhibition is divided into three categories: sculptures in the form of figures and figurative compositions, tableware including beautifully decorated beer
steins and galanteries – small decorative objects such as intricately painted snuff boxes, vinaigrettes and other receptacles.
To accompany the exhibition there are guided tours and themed events. Culturally minded visitors, for example, can enjoy a tour and promenade concert
which looks at Meissen through the prism of contemporary music (7 March 2010, 12 noon to 1.30pm). The museum is also hosting an art-themed breakfast on Easter Sunday: children aged eight and above are told about the monkeys, pug dogs and other animals which could be found at the royal courts of old, while grown-ups are given a tour concentrating on tobacco, its rituals and its finest paraphernalia (4 April 2010, 11am).
Information
Museum of Applied Art, Cologne
An der Rechtschule, 50667 Cologne
Tel.: +49 (0)221 2212 3860
Fax: +49 (0)221 2212 3885
http://www.museenkoeln.de/
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Topic “250 YEARS OF THURINGIA PORCELAIN”
Museum für Glaskunst – The missing link between milk glass and porcelain
Thuringia is not just famous for its porcelain. Glass production has played an important role in the region for centuries – as far back as the 12th century in the Thuringian Forest. 250 years ago, when porcelain arrived in the area, shrewd glassmakers attempted to imitate the coveted material: they mixed bone ash with glass to produce beinglas ‒ a special kind of milk glass and a new invention.
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of porcelain in Thuringia, the Glass Craft Museum in the glassblowing town of Lauscha is hosting a special
exhibition that sheds light on this chapter in glassmaking history.
“Beinglas als Porzellanersatz und Vorläufer der Porzellanfertigung in Thüringen” (Bone glass as a porcelain substitute and precursor to porcelain production in Thuringia) runs from 20 June to 31 October 2010.
Information
Museum für Glaskunst
Oberlandstrasse 10, 98724 Lauscha
Tel.: +49 (0)36702 20724
Fax: +49 (0)36702 30836
http://www.glasmuseum.lauscha.de/
Porcelain heritage and contemporary ‘art nude’
From 12 April to 31 December 2010, a special exhibition at the Castle Leuchtenburg Museum explores a particular form of aesthetic beauty to mark the 250th anniversary of Thuringian porcelain.
Entitled Nackt in Kaolin (Naked in china clay), the photographic project offers an entirely new perspective on the materials used in traditional porcelain production. A team of photographers from Jena experimented with hand-made florets, lithophanes (translucent reliefs) and lace from Plauen soaked in porcelain paste. Provocative, carefully thought-out compositions of bodies and objects were explored, and there were decals and paintings on naked skin. China clay, feldspar and quartz sand – all raw materials for porcelain – came to the fore in unusual fashion as well. The resulting art takes the form of new Thuringian porcelain creations and nude photography. Through gentle provocation the works explore the fascination that porcelain exuded some 250 years ago as one of the world’s most sought-after imports and luxury goods.
Information
Leuchtenburg
Dorfstrasse 100, 07768 Seitenroda
Tel.: +49 (0)36424 22258
Fax: +49 (0)36424 78705
http://www.leuchtenburg.info/
Bisque dolls with peach complexions
The acclaimed German Toy Museum in Sonneberg was founded back in 1901. Thousands of exhibits, including clattering steam engines, working model railways, cuddly toys and historical dolls’ houses, transport visitors young and old back to a captivating world of fantasy. This year, to celebrate 250 years of porcelain in Thuringia, the museum is hosting a special exhibition from 18 April to 29 August 2010. It is called Von Sonneberg in alle Welt. Armand Marseille und die Ära der Porzellankopfpuppen (Around the world from Sonneberg. Armand Marseille and the era of porcelain dolls’ heads). The maker of porcelain dolls’ heads Armand Marseille (1856-1925) sold his products in almost all countries of the world. After just a few years he had made the porcelain
factory in nearby Köppelsdorf a major force in the industry. Some dolls’ heads proved so successful that they remained in production for 40 years. Today Armand Marseille’s bisque dolls ‒ named after the unglazed bisque porcelain that was used to make them ‒ are collectors’ items thanks to their delicate, peach complexion and distinctive facial expressions.
Information
Deutsches Spielzeugmuseum
Beethovenstrasse 10, 96515 Sonneberg
Tel.: +49 (0)3675 422 6340
Fax: +49 (0)3675 4226 3426
http://www.spielzeugmuseum-sonneberg.de/
Porzellanikon in Selb and Hohenberg
The town of Selb in Upper Franconia is a main centre of porcelain production in Germany: its history as a porcelain town began when the Hutschenreuther factory was founded in 1857.
This year, the two Porzellanikon sites in Selb and Hohenberg are venues for Europe’s largest ever exhibition of porcelain: ‘From a King’s Dream to Mass Production.
300 years of European Porcelain’. From 24 April to 2 November 2010, some 1,000 pieces – including loan items from 90 other collections from 17 different
countries – will be on display in an area covering 3,500 square metres. In Hohenberg, the exhibition opening coincides with the reopening of the German Porcelain Museum after extensive refurbishment.
Information
Porzellanikon Selb – Die Museen
Werner-Schürer-Platz 1, 95100 Selb
Tel.: +49 (0)9287 918 000
Fax: +49 (0)9287 918 0030
http://www.porzellanikon.org/
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