Saucer (1 of 6) (part of a service)
ca. 1720
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Diameter: 5 in. (12.7 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
German, Meissen
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number
64.101.207
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite saucer, one of six from a porcelain service crafted by the Meissen Manactory around 1720, exemplifies early European mastery of hard-paste porcelain. Measuring just 5 inches in diameter, this delicate piece from the German city of Meissen features vibrant hand-painted motifs of birds and flowers,oking the natural world's elegance against the pure white body of the ceramic. Meissen, established in 1710 under patronage of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, achieved a breakthrough by replicating the secret formula for hard-paste porcelain—previously a Chinese monopoly. This i...
About the Artist
Meissen Manufactory · 1710–present
The Meissen Manufactory, established on June 6, 1710, by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, marked the dawn of true hard-paste porcelain production in Europe. Nestled at Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen near Dresden, the Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Porcelain Manufactory arose from alchemical experiments begun in 1708 by physicist Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus and p...