DISCOVERY OF SAXON KAOLIN. 



as far as related to M. Brongniart individually, but he refused 

 to include in the admission the associate who accompanied him. 



The fine hard porcelain was now manufactured at Meissen, the 

 colours, forms, painting and gilding of the oriental porcelain being 

 so perfectly re-produced, that on examining the specimens of this 

 early date preserved in the Dresden collection, M. Brongniart 

 affirmed that he was only able to ascertain that they were not 

 genuine Chinese porcelain by the mark of the Meissen manufac- 

 tory impressed on them. 



21. Bottger was unable to bear his elevation. Intoxicated with 

 success, and supplied with pecuniary resources beyond his habits, 

 he fell into a course of dissipation, and died in 1719, at the early 

 age of thirty-five. 



Such was the origin of the manufactory of porcelain at Dresden, 

 which has since obtained a world- wide celebrity, and the source 

 from which Europe for more than a hundred years obtained the 

 most admired productions of the ceramic art. 



22. The kaolin of Aue, discovered by the accidental circum- 

 stances above stated, continued, and still continues, to be used 

 as one of the materials of the Saxon porcelain. Two sorts of 

 paste are at present used in this manufacture. What is called 

 the service paste, or that used for porcelain in general, is thus 

 composed : 



Kaolin of Aue 18 



Kaolin of Sosa 18 



Kaolin of Seidlitz .... 36 



Feldspar, &c. 8 



100 



For the statuary porcelain the feldspar of Carlsbad and quartz 

 are mixed with the kaolin of Aue. 



The manufacture of fine porcelain being thus established in 

 Saxony, it soon spread to other parts of Europe, partly by the 

 treachery and desertion of the parties engaged in the Meissen 

 manufactory, and partly by the invention of other materials for 

 the paste ; and, in fine, by the discovery of strata of kaolin in 

 other localities. 



23. The style of the Dresden porcelain is familiar to all amateurs, 

 and, whatever difference of opinion may prevail as to its taste, 

 there can be none as to the admirable excellence of its execution. 

 All who have visited the collection at Dresden, will be familiar 

 with the series of animals, represented on a scale approaching to 

 the natural size, including bears, rhinoceroses, vultures, peacocks, 

 c., made for the grand staircase which conducts to the electoral 

 library. These were fabricated as early as 1730. At a later 



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