Vase in the Rococo Style
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Object description
Porcelain is a noble and the most refined type of ceramics. It is fashioned from a blend of various clay varieties, primarily composed of kaolin. The body is either coated with a transparent glaze or left unglazed, which is known as biscuit porcelain. The wares undergo at least two main stages of thermal treatment and are fired at exceptionally high temperatures. Fine ceramic objects are characterised by their white colour, resonance, strength, and translucency. Two fundamentally different decoration methods are employed in its production: relief modelling and painting.
Porcelain originated in China around the 6th–7th centuries, where the secret of its manufacture was closely guarded. Chinese porcelain items reached Europe during the Middle Ages and were valued more highly than gold, which later earned them the moniker "white gold". For centuries, European masters attempted to replicate this material, creating only fragile, soft imitations instead. The secret of the Chinese craftsmen was finally unlocked only at the beginning of the 18th century in Saxony.
The first manufacture in Europe to produce hard-paste porcelain was founded in 1710 by the Saxon Elector and King of Poland, Augustus II the Strong, near Dresden in the town of Meissen. Its establishment followed the development of kaolin clay mines and the invention of the porcelain paste recipe in 1709 by the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger. Throughout the 18th century, the Meissen manufacture experienced its most illustrious period of flourish, shaped by the work of such prominent masters as Johann Gregor Höroldt, Johann Gottlieb Kirchner, Johann Joachim Kändler, Michel Victor Acier, and others. This was an era of bold experimentation, technological refinement, and the creation of iconic models.
Apart from the world-renowned Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, numerous other porcelain factories operated throughout Germany. Chief among these was the Royal Porcelain Factory in Berlin (KPM). No less popular was the production of the enterprises in Dresden, Nymphenburg, Volkstedt, Ludwigsburg, Frankenthal, and Selb.
Many leading European manufactories in the late 19th century produced objects in the Neo-Rococo style. The plastic rendering of this vase represents a refined example of European decorative and applied ceramics of the period, characterised by a distinctive revival of the whimsical, asymmetrical, and plastic artistic forms borrowed from the artistic vocabulary of the 18th-century Gallant Age.
The compositional structure of the object is defined by its exceptional dynamism, fanciful silhouette, and three-dimensional plastic decor. The vase is raised on a massive shaped base of complex four-legged rocaille form, decorated with a rich mint-green ground, raised gilded scrolls, and delicate painting of golden floral shoots. The primary tectonic and thematic focus of the composition is the sculptural depiction of a naked winged boy – a putto, who raises his arms to visually support the central large cartouche. The soft anatomical modelling of the putto's figure in pastel flesh tones contrasts with the pristine white surface of the porcelain body.
The focal point of the vase's body is a large, pictorial cartouche with a raised rocaille border, enclosing a rich, polychrome floral painting. With high realistic precision and coloristic refinement, the master depicts a luxurious bouquet of garden roses in purple hues, blue cornflowers, and small wildflowers. Particular architectonic expression is given to the object by two side shaped handles of complex configuration, entirely embellished with gilding. The neck of the vase terminates in a wide shaped rim in the form of a stylised sea shell, painted using a mint-green ground and golden ornamentation.
A system of markings is preserved on the lower part of the piece's base. Incised into the paste in the center are numerical designations arranged vertically, one beneath the other: "32" on top, with "880" (or "830") directly below it. To the right, the number "13" is applied in gold paint alongside a heavily blurred, illegible trace of underglaze blue paint, the graphic contours of which cannot be precisely identified.
Porcelain originated in China around the 6th–7th centuries, where the secret of its manufacture was closely guarded. Chinese porcelain items reached Europe during the Middle Ages and were valued more highly than gold, which later earned them the moniker "white gold". For centuries, European masters attempted to replicate this material, creating only fragile, soft imitations instead. The secret of the Chinese craftsmen was finally unlocked only at the beginning of the 18th century in Saxony.
The first manufacture in Europe to produce hard-paste porcelain was founded in 1710 by the Saxon Elector and King of Poland, Augustus II the Strong, near Dresden in the town of Meissen. Its establishment followed the development of kaolin clay mines and the invention of the porcelain paste recipe in 1709 by the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger. Throughout the 18th century, the Meissen manufacture experienced its most illustrious period of flourish, shaped by the work of such prominent masters as Johann Gregor Höroldt, Johann Gottlieb Kirchner, Johann Joachim Kändler, Michel Victor Acier, and others. This was an era of bold experimentation, technological refinement, and the creation of iconic models.
Apart from the world-renowned Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, numerous other porcelain factories operated throughout Germany. Chief among these was the Royal Porcelain Factory in Berlin (KPM). No less popular was the production of the enterprises in Dresden, Nymphenburg, Volkstedt, Ludwigsburg, Frankenthal, and Selb.
Many leading European manufactories in the late 19th century produced objects in the Neo-Rococo style. The plastic rendering of this vase represents a refined example of European decorative and applied ceramics of the period, characterised by a distinctive revival of the whimsical, asymmetrical, and plastic artistic forms borrowed from the artistic vocabulary of the 18th-century Gallant Age.
The compositional structure of the object is defined by its exceptional dynamism, fanciful silhouette, and three-dimensional plastic decor. The vase is raised on a massive shaped base of complex four-legged rocaille form, decorated with a rich mint-green ground, raised gilded scrolls, and delicate painting of golden floral shoots. The primary tectonic and thematic focus of the composition is the sculptural depiction of a naked winged boy – a putto, who raises his arms to visually support the central large cartouche. The soft anatomical modelling of the putto's figure in pastel flesh tones contrasts with the pristine white surface of the porcelain body.
The focal point of the vase's body is a large, pictorial cartouche with a raised rocaille border, enclosing a rich, polychrome floral painting. With high realistic precision and coloristic refinement, the master depicts a luxurious bouquet of garden roses in purple hues, blue cornflowers, and small wildflowers. Particular architectonic expression is given to the object by two side shaped handles of complex configuration, entirely embellished with gilding. The neck of the vase terminates in a wide shaped rim in the form of a stylised sea shell, painted using a mint-green ground and golden ornamentation.
A system of markings is preserved on the lower part of the piece's base. Incised into the paste in the center are numerical designations arranged vertically, one beneath the other: "32" on top, with "880" (or "830") directly below it. To the right, the number "13" is applied in gold paint alongside a heavily blurred, illegible trace of underglaze blue paint, the graphic contours of which cannot be precisely identified.
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Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
