Porcelain Figurine "Dragonfly". Royal Copenhagen, pre-1910.

Royal manufactory. Factory foundation - 1760 The first attempts to obtain the porcelain mass that were made in Denmark in 1731 were unsuccessful. And the following, held in 1750-1757, also did not bring the desired results. And only the discovery in 1756 by Nils Birch of Kaolin's deposits on the island of Bornholm allowed to successfully finish long -term research. in 1760, the first Danish porcelain factory in the Blue Tower in the Copenhagen - Christianhavn area was founded. At first, the factory was led by the Meissen artist Melhorn, but due to the shortcomings in his work he was soon fired. For a short time, he was replaced by the master of faience from Castruep Yakub Fortlin. But the real work of the factory began with the advent of the Frenchman Louis Fournier, who controlled the factory in 1761-1765. It was an experienced ceramic who studied porcelain well during his work in Sevra and Vincennes. Furnier produced soft porcelain in Copenhagen. The composition of its mass, as well as the models and decor, were made according to the sample of Sure. Basically, cups, plates, jugs and vases in the Rococo style were produced. When decorating large dishes, floral scrapers were applied. Franz Henry Müller from Copenhagen became a successor to Fournier. After numerous samples, in 1773 he independently mastered the technique of obtaining solid porcelain. And this decided the future fate of the factory. In 1775, it became a joint -stock company, where most of the shares belonged to members of the royal family. In 1779, the factory crossed the state. It was called the Royal Danish Manufactory of Porcelain and since 1780 had its own store in Copenhagen. Müller led the factory until 1802, after which he retired. Under his leadership, the Copenhagen factory survived its best period. Danish decorators, such as Ondrupe, Comrade, worked at the factory, but, in addition, Müller invited several good artists from Berlin and Tomashevsky, Leman and Gaudevitz to Copenhagen. This affected the then style of products that became like Berlin. The most spectacular works of the Copenhagen factory include large decorative vases. The egg -shaped shape on a funnel -shaped leg with side handles in the form of masqueronons was typical. On the cover of the VAZ, the figurine of the puffy baby Putto was often placed. The body of the vase was decorated with medallions with portraits or heraldry, as well as plate garlands. Sometimes portrait figures were placed in the medallions, fashionable in the XVIII century. from other products, it is worth mentioning coffee and dining rooms, as well as figures. Decorating the dining rooms depended on its purpose. In addition to richly decorated services for the royal court, cheaper dishes were produced for everyday use. For the production of figures, Müller hired a fashion designer from a factory in Fyurstenberg, who used his 116 old models, sometimes without any changes. And although then there was a very strong influence of German factories, sometimes purely Danish features were also manifested. This applies to painting and less often - figures: for example, a peasant with a chicken in her hands. Danish is definitely the largest work of the factory - a service called "Flora of Denmark". It was intended for the Russian Empress Catherine II and was done for twenty years - from 1790 to 1802, the service was planned for eighty people. In 1796, Catherine II died without waiting for the end of work. And then they decided to make a service for the courtyard of the Danish king and increase to a hundred people. The service was decorated with the image of Denmark plants, hence the name "Flora of Denmark". Scientific supervision of painting was carried out by Botanik Theodore Homteld, a student of the famous Swedish naturalist Linnaeus. Decorating was led by the famous Nuremberg artist Johann Christoph Bayer. The desire to accurately depict each plant, maybe somewhat damaged the artistic level as a whole, but still turned out a unique work that has no porcelain equal in history. The service is now stored in the Rosenborg castle. in 1802, after leaving the Müller factory, I. Mantey became his successor. At that time, the factory experienced the largest crisis. Artistic ambitions decreased, and production was limited to the release of everyday dishes. The situation began to be corrected in 1824, when Gustav Friedrich Ghetsh became the director. In those years, in addition to VAZ and candlesticks, figures and sculptural plates were made. In1864, after the lost war, the Danish government was in a difficult financial situation and in 1867 sold the Copenhagen Factory A. Falk. The new owner retained the right of the previous name of the factory and its stigma. The factory experienced a new heyday during the leadership of the next owner who was Philip Show. A happy and profitable event was the invitation in 1885 to the post of artistic director Arnold Krog, who moved away from the traditional style and gave the products a completely different look. Krog was one of the first European ceramists who saw wide possibilities that opened before decorative art thanks to the porcelain invented by Zeger for him The firing temperature of the firing was much lower than the previous one. This made it possible to introduce a number of new dyes that could not withstand high temperatures into an underglaze painting. Krog brought to perfection the art of using dyes. They began to use a variety of shades of blue, turning into gray, and sometimes black, shades of red, turning into pink, green and yellow in a variety of variations. Delicate halftones were used, overlapping with a thin layer on the surface. Thus, an additional effect was achieved, which created the whiteness of the porcelain background, translucent through the paint in his compositions by the Krog took as a model of the work of those Japanese masters who managed to maintain moderation alien to Europeans in filling the surface with details. The well -known works of Krog include a vase on which he depicted sea waves and seagulls spinning in the air, along the colored engraving of the Japanese Hokusai. The theme of other jewelry was purely Danish landscape motifs with pastel greens of the sea and whiteness of winter. Another achievement of Krog was colored glaze on dishes. The most curious of them is the "Celadon" - greens in different shades obtained from iron compounds. In addition to decorative dishes, the Copenhagen factory also made porcelain figures depicting folk types, characters from Andersen's tales, and especially animals. Copenhagen porcelain was designed by outstanding artists who worked in the factory. After a demonstration at the Paris exhibition in 1889, Copenhagen products became famous and fashionable throughout Europe. They began to imitate (and are still imitated by many porcelain manufacturers. Although the Copenhagen porcelain is expensive, collectors are hunting for it. The bluish tint and pastel palette of colors distinguishes it from the porcelain of other manufacturers. The most typical feature of the marking of the Copenhagen Factory is the use of three wavy dashes symbolizing sea waves, always blue. & nbsp; Royal Copenhagen - Danish royal manufactory. It was founded on May 1, 1775 under the patronage of Queen Julian-Maria, the 6th court porcelain manufactory in Europe. & Nbsp; for the 2nd and small centuries of the existence of the Royal Copenhagen factory, its sign-three blue wavy lines symbolizing the three most important waterways of Denmark Denmark - He became a synonym for quality and elegance. “Royal Copenhagen” is the only royal factory that has survived from the time of the absolute monarchy. Therefore, the crown is still crowned by its trademark. The factory always had "royal" customers. In 1790, by order of the Danish Crown Prince, the manufacture of the Flora Danica service, depicting 2600 plants found in the kingdom, began. To this day, at the factory, by order, they make exactly the same service. In 1868, the manufactory was privatized. Its owner was the merchant G.A. Falk. Since then, to this day, this is a private enterprise that has replaced several owners, but retained close ties with the royal family of Denmark. The Royal Copenhagen brand is rightfully one of the most important brands of Denmark and Scandinavia in general. The status of the “supplier of the court of Her Majesty Koroleva Denmark” and the royal crown, along with a half -breech history, emphasize the high “test” of the brand. & nbsp;