THE POTTER'S AET. 



period, when the manufacture had undergone improvements, large 

 ornamental pieces of porcelain were made, such as the slabs of 

 consoles and tables, some of which measure from 45 to 50 inches 

 by 25, and are richly decorated with flowers. 



24, Among the varieties of Dresden porcelain the grotesque 

 figures and groups have always been much admired for their 

 execution, if not for their style. The costumes are especially 

 admirable, and the representation of fine work, such as lace, 

 truly wonderful. One of the grotesque pieces which has attained 

 most celebrity, and is familiar to all amateurs, is the famous 

 tailor of the Count de Bruhl, a figure which is remarkable for the 

 difficulty of its execution owing to the numerous accessories 

 which it includes. The figure of the tailor is represented riding 

 on a goat surrounded with all the implements and appendages of 

 his trade, and is about 20 inches in height. This celebrated 

 group was composed by Kundler in 1760, and is usually sold for 

 about 121 



The Dresden manufacture has always been remarkable for its 

 representation of flowers ; and a beautiful specimen of this work 

 was seen in the Great Exhibition in 1851, consisting of a camellia 

 iaponica with leaves and white flowers in porcelain, in a gilt pot, on 

 a stand of white and gold porcelain. This article is priced at 90Z. 



25. The efforts made to conceal the important discovery thus 

 made, and to monopolise the manufacture of fine porcelain at 

 Dresden, were ineffectual. The force of interest proved more 

 powerful than the respect for oaths, and the art, as improved in 

 Saxony, soon spread to other parts of Germany. 



One of the foremen of Meissen, named Stobzel, had deserted 

 from that establishment about the year 1718, and escaped to 

 Vienna, where, aided by a Belgian named Pasquier, and favoured 

 by a privilege, or a sort of monopoly, for twenty-five years, 

 granted to him by the Emperor Charles VI., he established, in 

 1720, a small porcelain manufactory. Not having, however, suffi- 

 cient capital to carry it on, it declined, and was finally purchased 

 by the Empress Maria Theresa in 1744, and erected into a royal 

 manufactory. During nearly twenty years it required consi- 

 derable subsidies for its support, but at length, by good manage- 

 ment, it became profitable in 1760, and in 1780 yielded an annual 

 profit of about 4000?. The number of operatives who were lately 

 employed in this factory was about 400. The kaolin or porcelain 

 clay used in this factory, until 1812, was obtained from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Passau, on the confines of Bavaria, and from Prinzdorf, 

 in Hungary. Lately, however, it has been supplied by clay 

 obtained from the neighbourhood of Brim, in Moravia, and 

 Unghbar, in Hungary. 

 156 



