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Meissen Child Standing with Hobby Horse and Drum The history of porcelain manufacturing in Europe begins in Meissen, Germany near Dresden, the cradle of European porcelain. Apart from the short-lived production of the Medici factory in Florence in the 1560's, Meissen was the first successful producer of hard-paste porcelain - or true porcelain - in Europe. Meissen's products, and those of its imitators, who came later, destroyed the supremacy of the oriental porcelain that had held a virtual monopoly in the world since Marco Polo opened the china trade in 1295. In the 17th and 18th centuries porcelain was viewed as a great luxury in Europe. Court society longed for everything rare, which porcelain was. It became the fashion for northern European rulers to install a porcelain room where every inch was covered by porcelain. Just as in our time, the ownership of such precious things demonstrated wealth, luxury, and culture. Before Meissen discovered how to produce it, porcelain was being imported from China by the East Indian Company (thus, the term chinaware). The European countries' desire for porcelain was so great it was causing them troubling trade gaps. To arrest this disastrous outflow of monies, European rulers were frantically trying to find out how to make this chinaware themselves. Nowhere was this search more intense than in Saxony in eastern Germany. Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (who reigned from about 1693 to 1733), was obsessed with a passion for porcelain. He had heard of a young alchemist, Johann Frederick Bottger, who had worked for Frederick I of Prussia, having boasted that he could turn base metal into gold. Proving unsuccessful in this process, Bottger fled Berlin to Saxony (he was only about 20 years old at this time), where he was immediately imprisoned by Augustus. Augustus felt if Bottger could produce gold, he could also produce porcelain-or
 
Meissen Child Standing with Hobby Horse and Drum
View all: Hentschel's Children
Item #: 76392
$1,718
7 1/4" Height

The porcelain children of Julius Konrad Hentschel were created between 1904 and 1907. During this period, attitudes toward children and their education were changing. Children were no longer viewed as miniature adults but as independent individuals. Superficial cuteness was replaced by everyday childhood realities. Indeed, detailed, loving observations of children's activities, free of sentimentality formed the basis of the charm and appreciation of the children of Julius Hentschel. Unfortunately, Hentschel died unexpectedly at the age of thirty-five in 1907, leaving behind a lasting legacy: fourteen porcelain children performing everyday child activities in a normal realistic environment.

The history of porcelain manufacturing in Europe begins in Meissen, Germany near Dresden, the cradle of European porcelain. Apart from the short-lived production of the Medici factory in Florence in the 1560's, Meissen was the first successful producer of hard-paste porcelain - or true porcelain - in Europe. Meissen's products, and those of its imitators, who came later, destroyed the supremacy of the oriental porcelain that had held a virtual monopoly in the world since Marco Polo opened the china trade in 1295.
In the 17th and 18th centurie ...
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