While imported Chinese porcelain had become a valuable commodity in Europe in the seventeenth century, local attempts to produce porcelain long remained unsuccessful. At last, the secret of hard-paste porcelain was uncovered, and in 1710, the first European porcelain was manufactured in Saxony. Meissen porcelain, still manufactured today, soon ranked in value with silver and gold. This thorough and lavishly illustrated volume explores the early years of Meissen porcelain and how the princes of Saxony came to use highly-prized porcelain pieces as diplomatic gifts for presentation to foreign courts. An eminent team of international contributors examines the trade of Meissen with other nations, from England to Russia. They also investigate the cultural ambience of the Dresden Court, varying tastes of the markets, the wide range of porcelain objects, and their designers and makers. For every Meissen collector or enthusiast, this book will be not only a treasured handbook but also a source of visual delight.
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Maureen Cassidy Geiger is an independent scholar and curator of the Arnhold Collection, the most valuable private collection of Meissen in the world. She is also currently guest curator of decorative arts, the Frick Collection, New York City.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
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This review is from: Fragile Diplomacy: Meissen Porcelain for European Courts (Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design & Culture) (Hardcover)
This handsome book concentrates on the gift giving habits of the princes of Saxony. It was common practice for royaly to bestow gifts to foreign courts with the aim of gaining favour and influence. Meissen porcelain, after its initial manufacture in 1710, was highly prized and fabulously expensive. It thus served as a highly desirable gift.
I approached this volume as someone with a general interest in porcelain. This publication is really intended for the specialist in European history as well as those with a more profound knowledge of porcelain. The historical and gift information provided is extremely dense and detailed; far too much for the general reader but surely very satisfying for the expert. There are numerous illustrations, mainly of porcelain and other types of gifts. The quality of the photography is generally though not consistently of superior quality. Invariably the illustrations are small in size; this reduces the pleasure of viewing and makes detail difficult to appreciate. I often felt that less historic detail might have freed up more space for the photographs!
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