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■The beginning of Meissen in Germany

  For the royalty and the nobility in Europe from the 17th century to the 18th century, the Japanese and Chinese porcelain had the same value as gold and silver. And, the rulers of those days in Europe like the Hapsblc family, the Bourbon family and the Hannover family etc. were not satisfied with only the collections. And they brought the master of the potter and the painting and had them fired the porcelain in their territories. Friedrich AugustusⅠwas called "Augustus the Strong" and had the political ambition to usurp the throne of other country. At that time, he was the Elector of Saxony and the King of Poland (as AugustusⅡ 1670~1733).   In this era, the absolutism monarch strove for supremacy. It was "Beauty" that Augustus the Strong devoted his energies most. First, he embellished Dresden, a capital of Saxony, and it was called "Pearl of Elbe" and " the most beautiful baroque city in Germany". Besides, he brought the painting, the jewelry, the porcelain and all works of art to this capital and opened to the citizens. He built up the cultural administrative city Dresden that was the greatest city in Europe and showed off his own name in and out.
  It is the Dresden National Gallery to succeed to this gorgeous collection up to now. It is composed of 12 sections such as "Classics painting pavilion" in which the masterpieces of Raphael and Rembrandt are exhibited, the treasure pavilion "Green dome" which the unparalleled jewelry in this world are displayed throughout, "Porcelain collection room" which are collected 20,000 pieces of the porcelain from all over the world. It is "Miracle of Dresden" that the marvelous collection are protected by the successive monarchs after his death and exist without being scattered and lost, passing through the evils of war of World WarⅡ.
  Friedrich AugustusⅠwas especially fond of the Japanese porcelain and pottery and had the collection of around 35,000 articles. Besides he had the plan of the palace only for Imariyaki and determined to produce the same pottery as the Oriental porcelain by himself. And it is the Meissen kiln to be made in Meissen northwestward of Dresden in Germany. In 1694, the King confined alchemist Johann Friedrich Boettger of 19 years old that came to Dresden and compelled him to research into the porcelain. After that, Boettger worked on the researches into that with Walter von Tshirnhaus who was a scientist and a mathematician. Before long, they made the stoneware like Shudoro and in 1708, finally succeeded in discovering the white hard porcelain. However, this success caused the tragedy. The method of the porcelain manufacturing was the top-secret because that was the most advanced technology and made the great profit at that time. He feared that the secret leaked out and confined Boettger. Tshirnhaus fell ill, and Boettger indulged in sake because of the mental suffering under detention and died at 39 years old because of a burn.The glory of the Meissen known with the mark of "Crossed blue swards" was succeeded by the base of such a history, and Germany became the porcelain kingdom of the first class in the world.The characteristic of the Meissen porcelain is to use the clay that can be fired at the higher 1400 degree or more than the Japanese porcelain. They are somewhat thick so as not to be broken at the high temperature, and the Yu hardened and they are not so suitable for the uwae. Also, the one of the great characteristic of Meissen porcelain is to have translucency like shining by firing the pure white clay called Kaolin which Boettger had much difficulty in finding. They contains 65% of kaolin and are the best porcelain quality in the world. Also, they contains a mixture of glass matter and mineral that is necessary for the porcelain. And the higher the content rate of them is, the more delicate and the more hard porcelain is manufactured. However, there is a limit to the mineral vein and the production is felt uneasy. It is assumed that this is the one of the reasons that Meissen is the expensive.The modern Meissen porcelain becomes the massive finish because of the material rather than the national character. Because the natural clay is not used as it is like Japan, the purity is high and the bright shade of color can be made. Moreover, because they took the Imariyaki(Aritayaki) as the model, they have many design of the Orient style now.

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