GERMANY AND CENTRAL EUROPE.
Early Pottery.--Lake Dwellers.--Early German.--Peculiar
Shapes.--How Peasants Account for Relics.--Roman Epoch.--Tin
Enamel.--Leipsic.--Breslau.--Nuremberg.--The
Hirschvogels.--Villengen.--Höchst.--Marburg.--Bavaria.--Switzerland.
--Belgium.--Delft.
The early pottery of Germany and Central Europe dates from the Stone Age
down to the Roman incursion, when the types change, and the evidences of
more perfect mechanical appliances become apparent. The Lake Dwellers,
who built their huts on piles in the lakes of Switzerland, have
commemorated themselves by hand-wrought vessels, to the embellishment of
which a decoration of the rudest kind was brought. Remains have been
found throughout Germany, of which some are hand-made, while others are
evidently thrown upon the wheel. These are both pre-Roman and
contemporaneous with the Roman occupation. The paste varies from a
friable clay to a hard, ringing stone-ware. Vases of a great variety of
shape have been found along with cups, plates, saucers, and jars. Some
of the vases are divided, like boxes, into compartments. The ornaments
are paintings, mouldings, and incised lines. The painting consists of
parallel lines of red, yellow, and black. Some of the smaller pieces
were apparently used as toys. Others, of a sepulchral character, are
thought to resemble the huts of the lacustrine dwellers. One found at
Achersleben has a tall, conical cover, like a high-thatched roof, and
the orifice in front is covered with a plate having a ring in the
centre, through which a pin being passed fastened it on the outside. The
orifice was in this way closed after the ashes of the dead had been
introduced (Fig. 283). These and similar remains have been found in
various parts of Germany, and have given rise to many superstitious
stories among the peasantry. By some they are said to be the natural
produce of the soil. Others ascribe them to the all-powerful fairies.
Others consider them possessed of wonderful preservative properties. As
to the art they represent, we are convinced here, as we are in a
parallel manner, though more forcibly amidst the remains belonging to
ancient Gaul, that the Romans were not the first to inspire the Teutonic
population with a desire for the expression of artistic ideas. We find
both an awakening sensitiveness to the graces of form, and a growing
appreciation of the possible beauty of surface decoration.
[Illustration: Fig. 283.--Ancient German Hut-shaped Vases.]
With the Romans we find pottery both made on the spots where they
settled and imported from the seats of the ceramic industry in Italy.
These display the usual Roman characteristics, and need not be here
considered. Crossing the Dark Ages, we find, in the thirteenth century,
Germany in possession of processes for the presence of which--so far
removed from their accepted centres and from the regular routes by which
they travelled--it might be hard to account if it were absolutely
necessary to travel by the regular route. We have seen this already in
the case of early France. We see it again in Germany. Possibly the
Romans may have taught their barbarian subjects something about glazing.
Possibly some wanderer to Palestine and the East or to the Saracenic
settlements in the South of Europe, or some stranger from these “foreign
parts,” may have initiated the German potters in the higher secrets of
the art.
In any event, Germany was making enamelled faience at least two
centuries before Luca della Robbia had perfected his process in Italy. A
potter of Schelestadt, in Alsace, is said by the Germans to have
discovered tin enamel. Even his name is now forgotten, although his
death is said to have occurred in 1283. At Leipsic is a glazed frieze,
dated 1207, and at Breslau, in 1230, architectural reliefs of great
excellence were produced. Two hundred years later, in 1441, Veit
Hirschvogel was using stanniferous enamel. At Strehla, in 1565, the
potters were so well skilled in the working of terra-cotta, that they
had made a pulpit of that material. One is almost led by these facts to
question if Germany did not lead both Italy and France, and to regret
that the history of German ceramics has not been more fully opened up to
us. One danger let us guard against, for the sake of securing the
intelligent understanding of Germany, incompatible with either
partiality or prejudice. We need not confound conservative tastes with a
“very slow march of ideas.” One rather loves to find an artist so
impressed with what is good in his own art, that he is in no haste to
leave it in order to catch the first whiff of foreign inspiration. Ideas
evidently circulated at a tolerably high rate of speed in a country
where the enamelled friezes and monumental bas-reliefs of Leipsic and
Breslau existed in the beginning of the thirteenth century.
To Leipsic, therefore, Germany is indebted for its first enamelled ware.
The friezes above mentioned consisted of tiles with _alto-relievo_ heads
of Christ and the Apostles. The enamel is dark green. What occurs to us
at once is that no art ever _began_ with such works, and that in them we
have the successful results of long experiment.
Breslau is made famous by a large work of the same century, representing
Henry IV. of Silesia, who died in 1290. The monarch lies stretched upon
a tomb surrounded by twenty-one bas-reliefs.
The Hirschvogels of Nuremberg have thrown a lustre upon their birthplace
by their faience decorated with enamelled reliefs. The founder of the
family, Veit Hirschvogel, was born in 1441, and died in 1525; and one of
his sons, Augustine, has left some very artistic works in the prevailing
style of ornamentation, with medallions and decorations in relief. One
vase has green dragon handles (Fig. 284); and the fact that this style
existed in Nuremberg at the time when Palissy was travelling in Germany,
has led to the supposition that he may have acquired the rudiments of
his art under Hirschvogel. The same city was deservedly celebrated for
its tiles ornamented with bas-reliefs, generally of the deep green
distinctive of the greater proportion of German pottery. The style was
at a later period carried to a greater extent, as we find upon different
vessels several animal forms in high relief, and even the vessels
themselves modelled after the animals of the country.
At Villingen, in the Black Forest, Hans Kraut, who died in 1590, carried
the same branch of art to great perfection, his tiles and bas-reliefs
marking him as a successful and talented disciple of the school of
Nuremberg.
[Illustration: Fig. 284.--German Enamelled “Surprise” Vase. By
Hirschvogel.]
Höchst and Marburg were both important seats of the industry, and at the
former we find a vase having its neck ornamented with white reliefs,
like the cameos of Wedgwood. During the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries the industry was established in many places throughout
Germany, and styles of western and southern origin make their
appearance. The faience of Anspach, Bavaria, follows the style of Rouen,
and at Nuremberg, in the eighteenth century, the early Faentine style is
making itself felt. The Bavarian towns of Göggingen and Baireuth both
produced pieces of great beauty and refinement. On some from the former
appear bouquets, birds, and arabesques, and one from the latter is
ornamented--with what delicacy of effect may be imagined--with a figure
and medallion surrounded by blue arabesques laid upon the white enamel.
Before the middle of the eighteenth century Nuremberg had instituted its
modern style, blue arabesque borders on a bluish glaze surrounding
centre-pieces of fruit, etc.
SWITZERLAND.
In Switzerland we know Zürich, Schaffhausen, Winterthur, and one or two
other places. Of these, Winterthur is probably the more ancient, pieces
occurring dated 1678 and 1689. The styles are akin to the
Italian--deep-bordered dishes with regularly arranged groups of fruit or
flowers, or blue arabesques running round the margin. Escutcheons or
fortified castles form the centre decoration. Precision and stiff,
scrupulous care characterize the drawing.
BELGIUM.
Belgium, in at least two of the seats of its ceramic wares, has been
closely allied with France. From Antwerp, the great centre of Belgian
art, issued majolica of Italian styles in blue and yellow, violet and
green, and another quality after the Oriental porcelain patterns. Toward
the middle of the seventeenth century, if not earlier, Antwerp was in
close relations with France. Tournay was of French origin in so far as
its faience is concerned, and it was not until its workshop passed into
the hands of Peterynck, of Lille, that it rose to eminence. The pieces
attributed to it show a compound of Rouennais, Flemish, and Chinese
decoration. Brussels had carried the art in 1761 to such a height, that
its faience was said to be preferable to that of Delft and Rouen, with
which it is possible it may sometimes be confounded by collectors. At
Tervueren, near the capital, some pieces still in existence were made
which are decorated with wreaths and bouquets and armorial bearings
executed in colors of moderate purity.
HOLLAND.
[Illustration: Fig. 285.--Delft Blue-and-white. Eighteenth Century.
Chinese Style. Height, 17½ in. (Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn Coll.)]
For our present purpose, all Holland may be said to be comprised in the
single town of Delft. Its works date from 1310, and may be divided into
two eras, that preceding the making of “porcelain,” and that during and
after the fabrication miscalled by that name. The Delft faience is thin
and hard, and was decorated with landscapes and scenes by the best
painters of the time. It was made into tiles, large plaques, baskets,
vases, statuettes, and many other forms. Toward the end of the sixteenth
and beginning of the seventeenth centuries, when the Dutch were laying
the foundation of their trade with Japan, the fine quality of faience,
which has never been equalled by any other country, began to be
produced. We find this imitation of Oriental porcelain officially
recognized in 1614, and for a hundred and fifty years it was currently
referred to as porcelain. In reality it was a fine faience, modelled and
decorated after the peculiar forms and patterns with which their trade
with Japan had made the Dutch almost exclusively familiar. The paste,
which consisted chiefly of the clay of Bruyelle, near Tournay, was
skilfully mixed with sand and carefully manipulated. The sand made it
hard, and gave it a capacity for being wrought into thin pieces suitable
for table services. The bluish enamel was perfectly smooth and even; and
the decoration, chiefly in blue and iron-red, after the Oriental
designs, imparted to it much of the appearance of Japanese porcelain.
[Illustration: Fig. 286.--Delft Blue-and-white. Eighteenth Century.
Size, 21 in. by 18 in. (Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn Coll.)]
It is not to be wondered at that, as the processes were perfected, the
reputation of Delft increased, and its commerce grew in proportion, and
that no symptoms of decay manifest themselves until toward the end of
the seventeenth century. The genius of both potters and painters ran
riot among curious forms and decorations. One author mentions dinner
services with dish covers resembling in form and color the birds to be
served in them; a spice cupboard resembling a Chinese Mandarin, and
other curiosities. Another strange form was that of a violin, one of
which is painted in blue camaïeu, with figures engaged in a dance, and
musicians.
STONE-WARE.
Countess Jacqueline.--Teylingen.--Graybeards.--Fine
Stone-ware.--Grès de Flandre.--Creussen.
This ware, distinguished, as we have seen, by its vitrified fracture,
although long known in the East, does not appear in Europe until between
the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. When it was first made in France
has not been ascertained with sufficient exactness, and to Germany the
credit of instituting the fabrication has generally been accorded. We
find it throughout the provinces on the Rhine at a very early period,
and it probably passed down the Rhine to Holland and thence to England.
The name of the beautiful and unfortunate Jacqueline of Bavaria,
Countess of Hainault and Holland, is connected with the making of
stone-ware by a very curious tradition. Jacqueline was the daughter of
William IV., Count of Hainault and Holland, at whose request she married
John, Duke of Brabant. This was the beginning of her troubles. A jealous
and disappointed suitor, John of Bavaria, Bishop of Liege, marched
against Holland, and having compelled the countess to nominate him as
her successor, bribed her husband to transfer to him the management of
her estates for a term of years. The countess, having good reason to be
disgusted with men in general, and with her husband and quondam suitor
in particular, fled to England after appealing in vain to Rome for a
divorce. In England her beauty captivated the Duke of Gloucester, who
espoused her cause as a preliminary to espousing herself. The duke
marched against her husband of Brabant, who, assisted by his cousin of
Burgundy, defeated the invader. Gloucester deserted Jacqueline, fled to
England, and took a less involved bride. The countess in the mean time
was imprisoned; but she escaped, and on the death, in 1425, of the
prelate of Liege, resumed her rightful position. Then she was relieved
by death of her husband, and was again involved in war by the Duke of
Burgundy, whom she was forced to declare her heir. A second marriage
into which she entered so enraged Philip--who, by-the-way, is known in
history as, _par excellence_, “The Good”--that he arrested her husband,
and would have executed him, had not Jacqueline handed over her coveted
property to “The Good,” and in 1433 retired to the privacy of the Castle
of Teylingen. Three years afterward she died, at the age of thirty-six.
[Illustration: Fig. 287.--Graybeard. Brown German Stone-ware.]
[Illustration: Fig. 288.--German Graybeard, found in England.]
From what we can make out, the countess was twice an occupant of
Teylingen, once in 1424, on escaping from imprisonment at Ghent, and the
second time, as above mentioned, in 1433. On both these occasions she
appears to have occupied herself with the superintendence of the
stone-ware works, and even with fashioning the vessels with her own
dainty hands. After they were made, we are told--although it is
altogether incredible--that the flagons were thrown into the Rhine,
either as mementos of her imprisonment, or “that they might in
after-ages be deemed works of antiquity.” Providing for posterity in
that peculiar manner does not commend itself to one’s reason, as in any
way in keeping with the career of the Countess Jacqueline. There was a
custom in Paris for patriotic citizens to assemble in the gardens
adjoining the Seine, and there to relieve themselves by toasting and
singing and flinging the empty flasks into the river. These have been
found, with the legend “_Vive le Roi!_” inscribed on them, after the
fashion of the Moyenage potters. The Germans had a similar manner of
keeping the toast from future impurity by throwing away the vessels in
which it was drunk. Probably in this way the “Vrouw Jacoba’s Kannetjes”
found their way into the Rhine and the moat of Teylingen. It is easy to
imagine the potters toasting their lovely co-worker and superintendent,
and, in the excess of their admiration and loyalty, tossing away the
flagons, that they might never be drained to a less worthy toast. The
story is attractive enough, and it is almost a pity that the pots which
have been found are not of a high artistic rank. None of them is
ornamented.
[Illustration: Fig. 289.--Fine German Stone-ware.]
[Illustration: Fig. 290.--Fine German Stone-ware.]
To the “common stone-ware” belong the pots called Graybeards (Fig. 287),
from the bearded heads moulded on the necks. Many of these, though well
formed, are rudely ornamented, and are of a very coarse composition
(Fig. 288). The finer ware, which was made after the beginning of the
sixteenth century, is divisible into two classes, the older belonging
exclusively to the sixteenth century, and of a gray white or pale
yellow, the other of a bluish and gray tint, made down to the present
time. This is the ware commonly called _Grès de Flandre_, although, so
far as we know, Flanders never produced any, and the ware so designated
is a purely German fabrication. The canettes, or tall cups, of a nearly
cylindrical shape, sloping slightly inward toward the top, and belonging
to the first class of yellowish white stone-ware, are of very elegant
form, and are beautifully ornamented with reliefs, made from moulds of
wood and admirably executed. The subjects are sometimes scriptural,
sometimes heraldic.
To the second class of blue and gray stone-ware with salt glaze belong
some of the best specimens of the art (Figs. 289 and 290). They date
from 1500 to 1620, after which came the decline. The Bavarian town of
Creussen made a peculiar stone-ware ornamented with colored reliefs. Of
this we have samples in the “Apostle” mugs, so called from the reliefs
surrounding them, and in a series of jugs with hunting scenes. These
belong to the seventeenth century.
The Böttcher stone-ware will be noticed under porcelain, to the
invention of which in Germany it was the first step.
PORCELAIN.
Böttcher.--His First Productions.--Meissen
Porcelain.--Decoration.--Best Days of Meissen.--Its
Decline.--Vienna.--Höchst.--Fürstenburg.--Höxter.--Frankenthal.
--Nymphenburg.--Berlin.--Holland.--Weesp.--Loosdrecht.--The
Hague.--Switzerland.--Zürich.--Nyon.
It will always be the distinguishing honor of Germany that the Saxon
Böttger, or Böttcher, was the discoverer, for Europe, of a true kaolinic
natural porcelain. The circumstances have already been detailed (see p.
52). While Böttcher was prosecuting his experiments in 1708, he had the
furnace filled with trial pieces, which were fired for several days
before a piece was withdrawn. A teapot was at length taken out and
thrown into cold water. It was not porcelain, however, but a red
stone-ware, very hard, and with a metallic ring when struck. It was
called “red porcelain,” probably to suit the wishes of the experimenter
and of his royal patron. A teapot of this ware has been sold in England
for sixteen pounds sterling. A very good example of it is now in the
possession of Mr. Davis Collamore, of New York (Fig. 291), who was
fortunate enough to pick it up in one of his European tours in quest of
rare “bits.” It is undecorated, and shows admirably the rusty red color
of Böttcher’s experimental stone-ware. Others of his early essays are
almost black in color and are painted in relief. Several pieces are in
the Metropolitan Museum.
[Illustration: Fig. 291.--Böttcher Stone-ware. (D. Collamore.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 292.--Meissen Porcelain. Blue Festoon, Pink Rosette.
1709-1726. (F. Robinson Coll.)]
Whenever the kaolin of Aue was discovered, Böttcher, on his first
attempt, succeeded in making natural porcelain. Though Meissen, where a
workshop was erected without delay after the discovery, was kept like a
prison or fortress, and every precaution observed to insure secrecy,
although every man connected with the works was under oath to keep
silence in regard to anything he might see or discover, the precautions
were all in vain. The knowledge oozed out, and in a very few years
Meissen had several rivals. White ware was made down to 1718. The Nankin
blue was the first colored ware imitated, and after 1718 other colors
were introduced. Böttcher died in 1719, and was succeeded in the
directorate by Horoldt (Fig. 293), who carried out several great
improvements, and mingled the previous exclusively Oriental designs with
some of a more purely European character. Heavy gilt borders surrounded
figures, flowers, or the royal arms. In 1731, while the king himself was
director, Kandler, a sculptor, introduced, as an ornamentation for
vases, flower wreaths in relief, and afterward attempted figures with
great success. From 1725 to 1745 Lindenir, or Linderer, was painting the
beautiful insects and birds which were his specialty. Then came, also
during Kandler’s time, the exquisite paintings by European artists which
brought the Chinese style effectually to a close. The brightest days of
Meissen’s history were those from 1731 to 1756, before Frederick the
Great robbed it, for the enrichment of Berlin, of men, moulds, models,
and clay. Peace came too late to restore Meissen to its pre-eminence, as
it now had rivals both at home and abroad in France and England.
[Illustration: Fig. 293.--Dresden Porcelain.]
[Illustration: Fig. 294.--Old Dresden Porcelain. (L. Double Coll.)]
The successive directors after Horoldt were the king, Augustus II., from
1731 to 1733; Count Brühl from 1733; the count’s widow from 1763; the
king, Augustus III., from 1778; Count Marcolini from 1796 to 1814;
Bengrath Oppal from 1814 to 1833. The factory was, for the second time,
plundered in 1759, and although it subsequently attained to a high
position, it never reached its former prosperity. A marked change in
style is noticeable during the last quarter of the eighteenth century.
The forms and ornaments both assume more of a classical character. This
style, borrowed most likely from France, was adopted by Marcolini, and
entirely superseded its predecessors. The manufacture was now in its
decline. Meissen had lost its prestige, and gradually sank in
importance. From about fifty years ago the decoration became coarse and
the works no longer paid expenses, and at the present time Dresden ware
is a decidedly inferior fabrication. According to Jacquemart, the
manufactory is busy counterfeiting its own old productions and its old
marks. In comparing Dresden with its former self, its present position
relative to other factories must not be lost sight of. It still gives
to commerce many works which are valuable either for their historical
associations or for their intrinsic merit. The candelabrum here given
(Fig. 297) represents a style of work once very much in vogue at
Dresden. It was Kandler who, while superintending the modelling
department under Augustus II., between 1731 and 1733, introduced the
beautifully fashioned flowers in relief, of which some idea may be
formed from our specimen. Another, and a very curious work, is still
reproduced, and specimens can occasionally be picked up in this country.
Reference is made to the figures “Count Brühl’s Tailor” and “his Wife.”
The originals of these pieces were made by Kandler in 1760, under the
count’s directorate. With all his profligacy, Count Brühl was a good
deal of a wit, and having been repeatedly requested by his tailor to
accord him permission to look through the manufactory, at length
consented. The tailor presented himself at the works in due time, and
was there, to give him an appetite for farther exploration, presented
with the two figures referred to. In one he saw himself astride of a
he-goat, brandishing his professional shears and carrying the other
appurtenances of his business on his back, while the goat carries his
“goose” in its mouth. The other figure was that of his wife, with a baby
in her arms, sitting upon a she-goat. The discomfited tailor saw no more
of the porcelain manufactory. The many elegant forms and styles of
Dresden are too numerous to be detailed. They embrace vases,
candlesticks, snuff-boxes, butterflies, flowers, clock-cases, and
animal figures. The miniature paintings on some of the smaller pieces
are exquisitely finished and wonderfully tinted.
[Illustration: Fig. 295.--Early Meissen. (A. Belmont Coll.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 296.--Dresden Cup and Saucer. Marcolini Period,
1796. (J. C. Runkle Coll.)]
The annals of the last century contain many curious stories of runaway
workmen selling their secrets, and of the steps taken to keep down
opposition and to acquire a knowledge of the manufacture by any means
that offered. A runaway from Meissen led to the establishment at Vienna
of a factory in 1720. After twenty years it rose to considerable
eminence, although in both paste and glaze it is inferior to Dresden.
Its raised gold decorations have brought it in modern times a certain
celebrity. It came to an end during the directorate of Alexander Lowe,
who was appointed in 1856. Some excellent specimens are in the
collections of Mr. Walters, of Baltimore, and Mr. Gibson, of
Philadelphia. From Vienna the secret spread to Höchst, whither it was
conveyed by a workman named Ringler. Ringler was in the habit of
carrying with him written notes regarding the manufacture. His
fellow-workmen at Höchst made him drunk, copied his notes, and offered
the secret thus obtained for sale at other centres. One of these
runaways founded the workshop of Fürstenburg. A few of the Fürstenburg
workmen attempted to establish a manufactory at Neuhaus, but, on
discovery, were sent out of Brunswick. Another Fürstenburger, a flower
painter, tried to start the industry at Höxter, whither he had fled, but
failed, and was followed in the endeavor by one of the defrauders of
poor Ringler. This man’s name was Becker, and he succeeded in Höxter,
after fruitlessly hawking his secret through Belgium, Holland, and
France. He was bought up by the offer of a pension, and his competition
was thus brought to an end. When Ringler awoke to a full realization of
the consequences of his folly at Höchst, he went to Frankenthal,
Bavaria, where the factory founded by Hannong, of Strasburg, made
porcelain in 1755. This existed down to 1800. In the mean time, however,
Ringler had left, as we find him first at Neudeck-Nymphenburg, in
Bavaria, and then, in 1758, founding a factory at Ludwigsburg,
Würtemberg, which was worked until 1821. The porcelain made here was of
excellent quality, and the figure pieces were admirably modelled. After
this we hear no more of Ringler. In this way the industry spread over
the whole of Central Europe--to Anspach, Baireuth, Baden, to
Hesse-Cassel, Darmstadt, and Thuringia, each new workshop becoming the
centre for a number of offshoots.
[Illustration: Fig. 297.--Recent Dresden Porcelain Candelabrum. (D.
Collamore.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 298.--Berlin Porcelain. (D. Collamore.)]
Berlin obtained a knowledge of porcelain by the purchase of one of the
copies of the indiscreet Ringler’s notes, and the industry was founded
in 1750. Let us bear in mind how Frederick carried off workmen, artists,
tools, and material from Meissen, and it is not difficult to understand
the rise of Berlin. The works were taken by the Crown in 1763, and were
very soon yielding a handsome income. Berlin has been compared with
Dresden in its best days, and its works are certainly of a high order.
The Berlin rose-color is peculiar to the royal factory. At the
Centennial Exhibition the Königlich Preussische Porzellan-manufactur of
Berlin was almost the sole representative of the porcelain industry of
Germany. The majority of the pieces were of an ornamental character,
large vases and plaques. A mere list of them will show in what the
workmen are now busying themselves. There were a Victoria vase with a
picture of Aurora, after Guido Reni; Germania vase with pictures of
Germania cultivating the arts and sciences, and Prussia the shield and
protectress of the empire, after Von Heyden; Crater vase with “Triumphal
Procession of King Wine,” after Schrödter; Crater vase with picture of
Helios, after Schinkel; vases in Neogrec style with paintings after
Bendemann; Victoria vase with “Music,” after Klöber; Urbino vases,
amphora vases, and several sets in the Persian, Chinese, and Japanese
styles. All these pieces were of large size, the largest about six feet
in height. Besides these there were candelabra, pictures on china
enamel, table services, busts, and some beautiful specimens in biscuit.
The collection probably represented very fairly the extent of the art
practised at Berlin, and the best work of the Germany of to-day. In
every case there were to be found great richness and admirable handling
of colors, but it requires time to become accustomed to the German
styles of drawing. Many of the figures painted on the surface, even
those showing the utmost delicacy of tint, were hardly entitled to be
described as graceful. Others were absolutely clumsy.
[Illustration: Fig. 299.--Berlin Porcelain Vase. (A. Belmont Coll.)]
The vase from Mr. August Belmont’s collection (Fig. 299) is in both form
and color a good example of the art workmanship of Berlin. The ground
color is a soft and beautiful shade of green; and the handles, base,
neck, and frame of the medallion are in gold. The portrait in the latter
is that of the Queen of Prussia, the mother of William, the present
Emperor of Germany, and is said to be a very correct likeness.
HOLLAND.
The first natural porcelain factory in Holland was founded in 1764, at
Weesp, near the capital. It was closed in 1771. In the following year
the business was recommenced at Loosdrecht, near Utrecht, and was
carried on there, and after 1782 at Amstel, with moderate success until
the beginning of the present century. Several other establishments,
notably one in 1778 at the Hague, rose, and in a few years fell. The
entire history of porcelain in the country may be comprised in
twenty-five years, from 1760 to 1785.
In Belgium there was, in 1791, a factory of natural paste at Brussels.
SWITZERLAND.
Switzerland owed its first workshop at Zürich to one of Ringler’s
workmen from Höchst. It was carried on for five years, until 1768, and
the productions are after the German style. Imitations of the French
style of Sèvres came for a time from Nyon, where a Frenchman established
a workshop.