The Royal Copenhagen History 1775-1800

The foundation of the factory

By the time the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory was founded on 1 May 1775 with support from the Danish king, more than one hundred years of persistent efforts had gone to learn the secret of porcelain making from the Chinese who managed to keep the secret for 6-700 years.

The alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger produced the first European porcelain in Dresden in 1709. Although King August the Strong zealously guarded both the alchemist and his formula, as the century proceeded many European kingdoms succeeded in establishing their own porcelain manufactories, where they produced the rare material nicknamed "white gold".

In Denmark the chemist Frantz Henrich Müller had put his heart and soul into the enterprise. Following years of experimentation and trials he succeeded in producing the coveted hard porcelain, and receiving the backing of the royal family.

The manufactories first years were a hard daily struggle against variable and poor raw materials, lack of experience, unsuccessful firings, disappointing experiments. But Müller and his small select team of artisans laboured with determination and persistence, and succeeded in creating such a solid basis for the manufactories continued survival that the absolute monarch King Christian VII acceded and took over in 1779, thus guaranteeing the future of the porcelain manufactory.

It was agreed from the outset that the greater proportion of porcelain produced would be painted blue before glazing. This proved the most economical method, since under glaze porcelain demands only one firing - however at a very high temperature (1,400 degrees Celsius) required to fuse the porcelain paste and the glaze. At this time only cobalt blue could withstand such a high temperature. Since then it has become the factories mark of distinction.

The efforts to learn the secret to produce porcelain was very intense. The effort to think about what to produce was much lower. When the factory was able to produce porcelain they didn't knew waht to produce. The looked around and found a Chinese patten - made what we will call a copy today - and the first dinner service pattern was born. The first dinner service pattern was Blue Fluted. This was a popular pattern in Europe's first porcelain manufactories. More than 250 different factories has made a variation of blue fluted on procelain and faience. Since the taut stylized floral motive originated in China, it was considered the epitome of genuine porcelain. At Royal Copenhagen we continue to paint the pattern by hand, even today. Therefore, Blue Fluted would gradually become synonymous with Danish porcelain.

In 1779 another blue dinner service, still in production today, followed: Blue Flower. As opposed to Blue Fluted, this pattern reflected the contemporary European style of naturalistic flowers.

A period of blossoming followed. The manufactories clientele were predominantly the royal family and the nobility. Porcelain was a prestigious status symbol in the 1700s. Commissions for coffee and tea services, not to mention large, elaborate vases, ran to sums that today would be computed in millions. Porcelain was principally commissioned as gifts for family members and foreign monarchs. The works produced were richly decorated in multicolored overglaze and delicately modelled details.

The largest and most renowned of these commissions was the exquisite Flora Danica dinner service. It was commissioned in 1790 by the Danish king, according to legend for Catherine the Great of Russia. Danish flora was reproduced on the porcelain, copying the copperplates published in one of the Age of Enlightenments greatest botanical works, Flora Danica. When the service was delivered to the royal family, 12 years later, it comprised 1,802 pieces. The service was revived for the marriage of Princess Alexandra of Denmark to the future King Edward VII of England in 1863. Flora Danica is still painted by hand today at Royal Copenhagen.