12 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
color artists in Europe, were called in to assist in the per- 
fection of what Boettger’s discovery had made possible. It 
was recognized early in the development of the Meissen 
factory, that while the technique of the potters art under 
Boettger’s direction left little to be desired, there was 
room for improvement in the coloring and, in 1720, the 
famous enamel painter, Johann Gregorius Herold, was 
induced to go to Saxony from Vienna, to bestow his atten- 
tion on this particular branch of the work. His influence 
was at once perceptible; from this period dates the per- 
fection of coloring that distinguishes Meissen porcelain to 
this day. Herold was not merely a colorist, in the ordinary 
acceptance of the term, he 
was a genius in the discov- 
ery and origination of colors 
and color schemes, that lent 
brilliancy to his creations. 
One of the colors he con- 
tributed to the Meissen re- 
sources, was a superb glazed 
blue, the secret of which 
the Chinese originators had 
lost centuries before and 
never had been able to re- 
discover. ‘This was, indeed, 
the most wonderful period 
in the history of Meissen 
porcelain, it attained a de- ; 
gree of perfection it has never since exceeded and some of 
the choicest and most artistic of the productions of the estab- 
lishment date from this time. The influence exerted on the 
productions of the now flourishing establishment was further 
enhanced when in 1731 the services of Joachim Kannoler, 
one of the most famous plastic artists of the century were 
secured for directing the molding and modeling branch. With 
his deft hands and with Herold directing the color work, 
Meissen entered upon the most successful epoch in its exist- 
ence. Kannoler created for Meissen what has been described 
as the European classical style in porcelain, as distinct from 
the Oriental, which had hitherto dominated or influenced 
more or less the best productions of European potteries. 
From now on, Meissen had a style of its own, the day of imi- 
tations of the French, the 
Vienna and other schools 
was past, and the royal por- 
celain works established a 
style entirely original, which 
other schools and porcelain 
factories have been only too 
glad to imitate, for after a 
while porcelain works sprang 
up elsewhere, the secret hav- 
ing been sold by deserters 
from Meissen. 
That a demand arose for 
Meissen porcelain, was only 
to be expected and for the first time in its history the works 
developed, from a drain on the royal treasury, into a very 
appreciable source of income, so that Boettger’s work 
proved indirectly a gold making undertaking. From all 
quarters of the globe, even from the distant Orient, orders 
for Meissen porcelain were coming in and the amount of 
work the factory turned out, under the indefatigable energy 
of Kannoler and his assistants Zuegel, Walther, Blochmann, 
Wiegand, and others, almost surpasses belief. The fact 
that porcelain had come into its own, as a feature in the 
decoration and furnishing of the apartments ‘‘de luxe’ on 
which the monarchs of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies lavished fabulous sums, increased, not only the vol- 
ume, but the importance of the commissions intrusted to 
the Meissen works, and its products are to be found in 
Fine specimens of Meissen porcelain ware, Royal figures 
and group of children 
Two fine groups representative of the Rococo period 
January, 1911 
every civilized land, in many instances unexpected finds of 
porcelain from this famous factory having been made. 
All this, of course, brought “‘grist to the mill,” and in 1746, 
when nearly 400 people were employed in the factories, 
they turned over a profit of almost 110,000 thalers 
($80,300), and enjoyed the fame of being the most ex- 
tensive establishment of the kind in existence. 
The seven years’ war, during which Saxony was overrun 
with rival armies, saw the works more than once in danger 
of destruction. Fortunately Frederick the Great, who liked 
to be considered a friend of the liberal arts, displayed un- 
expected consideration for the famous factory, contenting 
himself with laying it under 
heavy contribution, for the 
gratification of his personal 
tastes, although it is even 
said that he paid for some 
of the wares that pleased his 
royal fancy. Be this as it 
may, Meissen’s loss, through 
tie war, was purely of a 
financial character, and from 
this it speedily recuperated, 
for we find, in 1765, that 
there were 731 people on the 
factory payroll and that the 
receipts for the following 
year totalled 221,500 thalers 
($161,133). At the same time the staff of experts was 
constantly undergoing augmentations, an important addition 
being the famous court painter, Dietrich. 
In 1774, with the advent of the Graf. Marcolini at the 
head of affairs, another period of extraordinary prosperity 
commenced.for Meissen, known as the Marcolini period, 
which lasted forty years, until 1815. It included two dis- 
tinct style periods, the ‘“Zopf’ (Louis XVI) and the ‘“Em- 
pire,’ and while they may not have exercised so significant 
an effect on the development of Meissen ware, as the less 
restrained ‘‘Rococo” style that Kannoler encouraged, and 
to which the color work of Herold so admirably lent itself, 
they are none the less characteristic and have served per- 
haps better than any other Meissen products to familiarize 
us with the productions of 
the famous factory. To this 
period belong most of t>e 
‘“figurines’’ representing char- 
acters from family and ey- 
ery-day life, especially chil- 
dren, which, while lacking 
the brilliancy of the figures 
of the rococo period, being 
for the most part uncolored, 
biscuit figures, have a style 
that is entirely their own and 
leave the works at the close 
of the eighteenth century al- 
most where they stood when Boettger took them in hand 
at its commencement. 
With the introduction of this colorless ware the progress 
the ceramic art had displayed during the preceding period 
appears to have been arrested. Without color the interest 
in ceramic productions declined, and the cold uncolored re- 
productions of classical figures failed to arouse the enthu- 
siasm the richly colored ware of Meissen’s most famous 
period had created. It was fortunate that at this period 
the factory could find profitable employment in the repro- 
duction of the most famous productions of its rococo per- 
iod, for which there appears to be a never-failing demand. 
Of course, what was created were copies, and copies are 
always lacking in the price and freshness of the original, 
but the public accepted them. 
