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Is there someone on your gift list who’d appreciate a pretty plate, decorative vase or flower-bedecked teacup? While such wares can be made of earthenware, stoneware or pottery, items crafted of porcelain have always held a particular allure.
Porcelain is a white ceramic material containing a special ingredient that sets it apart: kaolin. Kaolin is a type of clay known for its translucence, or the ability of light to shine through it. Once fired at high temperatures, the surface of porcelain becomes very smooth, allowing the artist who gets a hold of it to create intricate patterns on its surface. Another identifying characteristic is its sound: when lightly struck, a clear, bell-like sound rings out.
Photo by Karen Bradbury
Porcelain originated in China well over a thousand years ago. Pieces brought back to Europe by traders were highly prized treasures that landed in the courts of royalty, and many makers attempted to replicate the production of what some referred to as “white gold.” The race was won in 1708, when Johann Friederich Böttger, an alchemist held prisoner in the Dresden court of Augustus the Strong, struck upon the formula for making a hard-paste porcelain. On the basis of this new-found knowledge, a royal porcelain factory was established in Meissen in 2010, the first of its kind in all Europe.
Photo by Karen Bradbury
A list of Germany’s earliest porcelain producers contains such illustrious names as Fürstenberg China, Frankenthal, Höchster Porzellanmanufaktur, Schlossmanufaktur Ludwigsburg, Meissen, Nymphenburg and Rosenthal. Many of these factories are still in existence today.
As porcelain generally doesn’t come cheap, flea markets and second-hand shops make wonderful sources for it. Items that once made up part of a set, deprived of their mates, can lose much of their value but none of their beauty. The pieces can be presented as is, filled with home-made candies or other treat, or used a base for a crafts project such as a scented candle.
Travel tip: one of Germany’s porcelain factories still going strong is that of Villeroy & Boch. To learn all about the company that got its start back in 1748 and to take in a range of its products, make way to the Villeroy & Boch Discovery Centre in Mettlach, Saarland. Exhibits in its wonderful Ceramic Museum range from over-the-top statuary decorated in gold leaf to a table set for a royal feast and a pastel-hued dairy shop. The center also offers budding artists ages four to 94 the chance to paint their own plates. Another stop is the factory outlet, where you’ll likely be tempted to buy an item or two. But do beware: once you’ve acquired your first piece from one of its series, the Rose Cottage to name just one, you just might have opened yourself up to the lifetime goal of completing your collection.
