Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part VII.

It's time to show you the Meissen Service, which belonged once to the Habsburgs and can be seen at the Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection Museum. Also I'd like to show you the manufactory you can visit to see how these wonderful artworks are made.

Feel free to read the other episodes here :

Vienna - Part 1 - Public Transport
Vienna - Part 2 - Hospitality
Vienna - Part 3 - St. Michael's Church
Vienna - Part 4 - Schönbrunn Palace
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part I.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part I.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part III.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part IV.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part V.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part VI.
Vienna - Part 6 - St. Stephen's Cathedral
Vienna - Part 7 - Food
Vienna - Part 8 - The Ferstel Passage - Part I.
Vienna - Part 8 - The Ferstel Passage - Part II.

The first – and for many years the best – porcelain manufactory in Europe was established at Meissen in 1710. This Meissen service made around 1775 is striking for its exquisite floral painting. The shapes of the individual pieces are good examples of “Baroque Classicism”. While the bulbous tureens with finials in the shape of fruits still seem to belong to the Baroque era, the perforated fruit basket already displays elements of Classicism with its predilection for the formal repertoire of Antiquity. source

This is the sixth part of my Silver Collection presentation and each time I'm saying what you see there is fantastic, there are so many wonderful pieces, real work of arts and yet there's always something that is ore beautiful than the other piece of set before.

This set is definitely one to pay attention to. These plates, bawls, fruit basket are hand painted of course and have a cold decoration each. These floral models are eye catching. But this is not just a wonderful looking, expensive and elegant set. It's a piece of history.

Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. It was developed starting in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and brought porcelain to the market, financed by Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. The production of porcelain in the royal factory at Meissen, near Dresden, started in 1710 and attracted artists and artisans to establish one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers known throughout the world. Its signature logo, the crossed swords, was introduced in 1720 to protect its production; the mark of the swords is one of the oldest trademarks in existence. In English Dresden porcelain was once the usual term for these wares, especially the figures; Meissen is not far from Dresden, the Saxon capital. source

This is evidence of how great those artists were. Evidence of the past, evidence of the art they were and still art representing.

I wanted to dedicate this post exclusively to the Meissen Service and the Meissen porcelain because it worth paying attention to it. The first part of the blog was about the past that is obviously linked to the present and to the future as well.

Messein Porcelain still exists today! A manufacture established in 1710, 309 years ago still exists.

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If you want to buy yourself or gift someone with a fine set of china like in the photo above, you can order online or visit their store. You just have to be prepared to pay for the quality and brand you get as a set like on the photo is sold for €1,990.00, plus shipping.

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If you're collecting figurines, that's the place for you. The Habsburgs had a lot of wonderful figurines, some of the probably made by Meissen. The figurine you see on the photo is called Spring Group and costs €9,490.00. It may look expensive to some but these are also collectibles, I believe after a time their value may rise. This is my opinion, not an advise.

1739 Royal Blossom Ring Tanzanite Blue, 56 mm

They are selling jewelry as well, the gorgeous ring you see above it can be yours for €1,990.00.

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This is among the most interesting items I've seen on their website, it's called Tulip Dish, 3,5x21 cm, 564 g, and it costs €749.00. I find it interesting because you can see similar flower decoration on plates and other porcelain items at the Hofburg Palace. It looks like the tradition is going on, they have kept the floral patterns, which is wonderful.

Limited Masterworks 2017 Déjeuner Flower Painting in Puce

There are products, sets offered but only by demand. You have to order first. The set you see above was created around 1740 by Johann Friedrich Eberlein.

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You can visit the manufactory in Germany, participate in a workshop. That can be interesting as everything is still done manually, respecting the tradition.

Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH
Erlebniswelt HAUS MEISSEN®
Talstraße 9
01662 Meißen
Germany

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I visited a similar manufactory years ago in Delft, the famous Delft factory. They were also offering guided tours for tourists. I was lucky as it was a very rainy day and I was the only visitor, so the guide was talking only to me and had the chance to ask questions as well. I got to see artists painting the famous blue delftware. It was a unique experience.

The Museum

Useful information:
Hofburg Palace
Michaelerkuppel, 1010 Wien, Austria