Highlights
Arcanum case of the Frankenthal Porcelain Factory
- Artist
- Johann Adam Bergdoll, Simon Feilner
- Locality
- Frankenthal Porcelain Factory
- Date
- 1765 and 1770
- Material
- Wood, leather, wool, hard-paste porcelain, minerals and other raw materials, paper
- Dimensions
- W. 43 cm
- Location
- Gallery 95
- Inventory Number
- 13/156.1-97
- Acquisition
- Assigned from the Royal General Authority of Mines, Smelteries and Salt Pits, Munich, in 1913
- Epoch
- Baroque and Rococo
Description
In Europe the mystery behind making porcelain was only unveiled around 1707/08 in Meissen. It was called the Arcanum and was closely guarded secret. This case is a unique document of the successful production of the coveted material in Europe. It contains original material samples - including the basic components of porcelain, kaolin, quartz and feldspar - from the Frankenthal Porcelain Factory founded in 1755, as well as colour samples from around 1770. In addition, six designs from 1765 show a grinding machine for preparing the porcelain mass in three views and three kilns, the construction of which was very complicated. After the Frankenthal Factory was dissolved under Napoleon, around 1800 the case came to Munich to the higher authority of the Nymphenburg Porcelain Factory.