Reference prints for painting at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory in the 18th Century

Project organisers:
Porzellansammlung

Résumé:
In this project the prints used as patterns for Meissen porcelain in the 18th century will be investigated in detail for the first time, very little being known about them up to now. This will involve, first and foremost, inspecting the preserved items in the archives of the Meissen State Porcelain Manufactory and in the Kupferstich-Kabinett of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and then matching them with surviving porcelain décor. The resources available in other cabinets of prints and drawings and other libraries will be inspected at a later stage. The project will investigate the way in which the Meissen painters used these reference prints and how they adapted them in their own work. A further aim is to establish when the prints entered the Manufactory, which subjects were chosen and who was responsible for their selection. In this connection it is also necessary to take account of the role of Count Heinrich von Brühl and his secretary and librarian Carl Heinrich von Heinecken, who was appointed Director of the Royal Kupferstichkabinett in 1746.

Intended results and aims:
Publication

Duration:
3 years, from March 1st 2011 until December 31st 2013

Financing:
Freundeskreis der Dresdner Porzellansammlung im Zwinger e.V.

Project manager:
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pietsch

Project team members:
Dr. des. Claudia Bodinek, temporary employee at the Porzellansammlung

Cooperative partners:
Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen, Archive
Dr. Peter Braun
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Kupferstich-Kabinett
Dr. Tobias Pfeifer-Helke

Interim results, publications:
Colloquium of the Friends of the Porzellansammlung
in the Albertinum on April 16th 2011

Claudia Bodinek: Transformationen: Von Nicolas Lancret über die Druckgrafik zum Porzellandekor, in: Dresdener Kunstblätter 56 (2012), Heft 3, S. 184–193.

Ibid.: Das Götzendorf-Grabowski-Service und seine Bildvorlagen, in: Keramos 219 (2012), S. 21–44.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pietsch
Director of the Porzellansammlung
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Sophienstraße
01067 Dresden