surprising is the fact that once so familiar to us china sets and figurines were valued almost more valuable than gold, and the ladies wore the product made from this material as decorations.The thing is that for a thousand years the secret of making white porcelain was known only to Chinese artists who produced it, since the VI century.Starting from the XIII Chinese dishes began to import into Europe, where they won the hearts of the richest and most influential people.However, these little things cost is incredibly expensive.Many of the monarchs of the world wanted to open a factory for the production of porcelain, but the eastern artisans faithfully kept their secrets.In the course were all sorts of tricks.But no spy could not find out exactly what constitutes such a precious material.There were many attempts to empirically reconstruct the Chinese technique, but received products not up to sample the quality and whiteness.As long as there was Meissen porcelain.
In the early eighteenth century, the king of Saxony, Augustus the Strong put under arrest Friedrich Boettger, a talented 19-year-old boy, I assure all that he had discovered the secret of making gold.Monarch demanded alchemist, so he supplied the state with precious metal.But thanks to the intervention of the scientist Ehrenfried Walther von Chirnhauza, like an impossible demand was replaced by the need to uncover the secret of Chinese porcelain.Like many great discoveries in the world, it was also largely accidental.The formula of the composition of a quality Chinese counterparts was found.Only the color of his remains brown.Here again I come to the rescue of the case, which largely helped dishonesty hairdressers.And it was so.Fixers, Barber decided to save on the powder, which fell wigs and replaced it with white clay.Boettger also wore a wig, even in prison, fake powder somehow inexplicably hit the porcelain composition, and as a result so carefully guarded by the Chinese secret was revealed.And there was the world-famous Meissen porcelain.Now the great people of the world began to order the incredible beauty of things in Meissen.Among their admirers and was Catherine II, Empress of Russia great.
course, Meissen porcelain underwent changes as the factory, changing its leaders.In the initial stages great was the influence of Asian culture, as a model of manufacturing were Chinese porcelain.On the sets depicting scenes of Chinese life, fiery dragons, exotic birds.This period lasted until 1733.Later, the Meissen porcelain factory has entered a "sculptural" period when a significant proportion of production is all kinds of statues, sculptures of small size.It was a totally new period in the history of Meissen porcelain, characterized by originality and individuality.Many porcelain factories in other countries have borrowed ideas from Meissen.
Nowadays Meissen porcelain is still not lose popularity, despite the fact that it is far from cheap.Of course, this is not the antique china, who once invented Friedrich Boettger and which is now stored in museums around the world.Modern masters, mostly copied articles of the XVIII century, but, as three hundred years ago, all the products are created and painted by hand, craftsmen and artists put in them its heat.For these same collectors who are extremely appreciates antiques, glassware Meissen porcelain becomes a valuable lot at auction where its price is several tens of thousands of dollars.
