1.
Nymphenburg Palace
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Castle of the Nymph, is a Baroque palace in Munich, Bavaria, southern Germany. The palace is the summer residence of the former rulers of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach. The central pavilion was completed in 1675, as a building material it utilised limestone from Kelheim. The castle was expanded and transformed over the years. Starting in 1701, Max Emanuel, the heir to Bavaria, two pavilions were added each in the south and north of Barellis palace by Enrico Zucalli and Giovanni Antonio Viscardi and connected with the centre pavilion by two gallery wings. In 1716 Joseph Effner redesigned the facade of the pavilion in French Baroque style with pilasters. Later, the section of the palace was further extended to form the court stables. For the sake of balance, the building was added to the north. Finally, a circle with Baroque mansions was erected under Max Emanuels son Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII Albert. In 1795 the Elector Charles Theodore ordered the widening of the galleries on the park side, with the Treaty of Nymphenburg signed in July 1741, Charles Albert allied with France and Spain against Austria. Two of the children were born here, Maria Antonia in 1724. Charles Albert lived during his time in Munich as Holy Roman Emperor in Nymphenburg Palace, Joseph founded the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory. In 1792 Elector Charles Theodor opened the park for the public, for a long time the palace was the favourite summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria. King Max I Joseph died there in 1825 and his great-grandson King Ludwig II was born there in 1845, in 1863 the only meeting between Ludwig and Otto von Bismarck was held in Nymphenburg, although they remained connected in a lifelong friendship. Today Nymphenburg is open to the public but also continues to be a home and chancery for the head of the house of Wittelsbach, currently Franz, the palace, together with its park, is now one of the most famous sights of Munich. The baroque facades comprise an overall width of about 700 metres, some rooms still show their original baroque decoration while others were later redesigned in rococo or neoclassical style. The Steinerner Saal in the pavilion, with ceiling frescoes by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and F. Zimmermann. Acting as a hall, it occupies over three floors of the central pavilion of the palace
2.
Munich
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Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly
3.
Bavaria
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Bavaria is a free state and one of 16 federal states of Germany. Located in the German southeast with an area of 70,548 square kilometres and its territory comprises roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany, and, with 12.9 million inhabitants, it is Germanys second most populous state. Munich, Bavarias capital and largest city, is the third largest city in Germany, the Duchy of Bavaria dates back to the year 555. In the 17th century CE, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, when Bavaria became a republic. In 1946, the Free State of Bavaria re-organised itself on democratic lines after the Second World War, Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the states Catholic majority and conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes such as Oktoberfest. The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures, modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia, Upper Palatinate and Swabia. The Bavarians emerged in a north of the Alps, previously inhabited by Celts. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, the name Bavarian means Men of Baia which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources circa 520, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the diocese was named after an ancient Bohemian king, Boiia, in the 14th century BCE. From about 554 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria and their daughter, Theodelinde, became Queen of the Lombards in northern Italy and Garibald was forced to flee to her when he fell out with his Frankish overlords. Garibalds successor, Tassilo I, tried unsuccessfully to hold the frontier against the expansion of Slavs. Tassilos son Garibald II seems to have achieved a balance of power between 610 and 616, after Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I, whose reign may have begun as early as 680. From 696 onwards he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and his son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodos death the duchy was divided among his sons, at Hugberts death the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighbouring Alemannia. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748, saint Boniface completed the peoples conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Bavaria was in ways affected by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century
4.
Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria
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Maximilian III Joseph was a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Bavaria from 1745 to 1777. Born in Munich, Maximilian was the eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII and his wife, Maria Amalia of Austria, upon his fathers death in January 1745, he inherited a country in the process of being invaded by Austrian armies. During the Seven Years War Bavarian forces then fought on the Habsburg side, Maximilian Josephs sister Maria Josepha of Bavaria was married in 1765 to Maria Theresas son Emperor Joseph II. But long-term weakening of Prussia was not in the Bavarian interest, Maximilian Joseph tried, as far as possible, to keep Bavaria out of the wars. Apart from militia troops, he sent only a force of 4,000 men to join the Austrian army. In 1758/1759, he withdrew Bavarian auxiliary troops from Austrian service, together with the Wittelsbach Elector Charles Theodore of the Palatinate he enforced the neutrality of the Empire during the conflict. Maximilian Joseph was a progressive and enlightened ruler who did much to improve the development of his country and he encouraged agriculture, industry, and exploitation of the mineral wealth of the country, and abolished the Jesuit censorship of the press. In 1747 the Nymphenburg Porcelain Factory was established, while the Codex Maximilianeus bavaricus civilis was written in 1756, in 1759, he founded Munichs first academic institution, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. During the severe famine in 1770 Maximilian sold some of the jewels to pay for grain imports to relieve hunger. In that year, he issued an edict against the extravagant pomposity of the Church which contributed to the end of the era of Bavarian rococo. He also forbade the Oberammergau Passion Play, in 1771 the elector regulated general school attendance. In December 1777 Maximilian Joseph rode in his carriage through Munich, on the ride, as he passed one of the clocks, the mechanism broke. Commenting to the passengers, Max Joseph decided this was an omen, within days, he was stricken with a strange disease. None of his 15 doctors could diagnose it, but by Christmas, it had become clear that it was a virulent strain of smallpox. By the last day of the month he was dead without leaving an heir, Maximilian III Joseph is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich. He was succeeded by his distant cousin, the Elector Palatine Charles Theodore from the branch of the dynasty. Maximilian III Joseph ordered in 1751 François de Cuvilliés to construct the splendid rococo Cuvilliés Theatre and he also ordered to decorate some rooms of the New Schleissheim Palace in rococo style. In 1775 La finta giardiniera, an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, received its first performance at the Salvatortheater in Munich
5.
Sigmund von Haimhausen
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Sigmund von Haimhausen was a Bavarian aristocrat, mining operator, head of the Bavarian Mint and Mines commission, porcelain manufacturer and first president of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Sigmund Ferdinand Graf von und zu Haimhausen was born on 28 December 1708 in Munich and he came from a family ennobled by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. His father was Franz Joseph von und zu Haimhausen and his mother Maria Magdalena Baroness von Rehlin, Sigmund attended the Jesuit school in Munich, then in 1724 went with his older brother Charles Ferdinand to the University of Salzburg. After two years moved on to study law in Prague. In the late summer of 1728 the two began to travel, visiting Dresden, Berlin, Lübeck, Hamburg and Amsterdam. They spent a semester in Leyden where they and hundreds of young men heard Johann Jacob Vitriarius deliver his lectures on public law. They then visited London and spent eight months in Paris before returning home in July 1730 and their grandfather died on 11 January 1724 and left Sigmund his Bavarian and Bohemian properties, leaving only the title and a legacy to Charles. However, the government overrode the will and decreed that Charles should receive the possessions in Bavaria, sigmunds Bohemian properties included the Gute Kuttenplan copper mine and other mines. Haimhausen devoted himself to the study of mining and he attended the metallurgical lectures of Dr. Störr in Leipzig, traveled through the Saxon ore fields and Austrian mining towns, and talked or corresponded with leading experts in mining. When Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, died on 20 October 1740 Sigmund joined in the homage of Bohemia in Prague and attended the coronation of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor, in Frankfurt. He moved temporarily to Bavaria, and this became permanent under Maximilian III Joseph. In 1751 the Elector Max III Joseph appointed Haimhausen Master of the Mint and he was appointed to the privy council the same year. Starting in 1747, with the support of the Elector Max III Joseph, the Elector gave up funding the venture, but Haimhausen took over management and invested about 10,000 Bavarian Gulden in the enterprise from 1751-55. In 1753 he employed the skilled manufacturer Joseph Jakob Ringler, on 30 May 1754 the factory was incorporated into the Bavarian state system, and made a department of the Mint and Mining Commission headed by Haimhausen. In 1754 the factory hired Franz Anton Bustelli from Ticino in Switzerland as head of the modelling shop and he became model master, and contributed greatly to the early success of the factory. In 1761 the Churfürstliche Porcelain-Fabrique was transferred to the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, after some difficulties, the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory became successful and delivered high-quality products. The factory was best known for its Rococo figures, including Bustellis Chinese and Turkish figures, Bustellis successor Dominik Auliczek was known for groups of fighting animals, such as one of a bear being attacked by hounds. The factory did not make much tableware, but the Haimhausen and Electoral Court services are excellent, richly decorated in floral sprays, butterflies, the elector awarded Haimhausen a medal for his achievements
6.
Ludwig I of Bavaria
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Ludwig I was king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states. Born in the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts in Strasbourg, he was the son of Count Palatine Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken by his first wife Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, at the time of his birth, his father was an officer in the French army stationed at Strasbourg. He was the godson and namesake of Louis XVI of France and his father assumed the title of King of Bavaria on 1 January 1806. Starting in 1803 Ludwig studied in Landshut where he was taught by Johann Michael Sailer, on 12 October 1810 he married Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, the daughter of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The wedding was the occasion of the first-ever Oktoberfest, as commander of the 1st Bavarian Division in VII Corps, he served under Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre in 1809. He led his division in action at the Battle of Abensberg on 20 April, on 14 October, Bavaria made a formal declaration of war against Napoleonic France. The treaty was passionately backed by Crown Prince Ludwig and by Marshal von Wrede, already at the 1815 Congress of Vienna, Ludwig advocated a German national policy. Until 1816 the crown prince served as governor-general of the Duchy of Salzburg and his second son Otto, the later King of Greece, was born there. Between 1816 and 1825, he spent his years in Würzburg and he also made numerous trips to Italy and stayed often in the Villa Malta in Rome, which he later also bought. Ludwig supported generously as a Philhellene the Greek War of Independence, in 1817 Ludwig was also involved in the fall of Prime Minister Count Max Josef von Montgelas whose policies he had opposed. He succeeded his father on the throne in 1825, Ludwigs rule was strongly affected by his enthusiasm for the arts and women and by his overreaching royal assertiveness. An enthusiast for the German Middle Ages, Ludwig ordered the re-erection of several monasteries in Bavaria which had closed during the German Mediatisation. He reorganized the regions of Bavaria in 1837 and re-introduced the old names Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia. He changed his royal titles to Ludwig, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, Duke in Swabia, Ludwigs plan to reunite the eastern part of the Palatinate with Bavaria could not be realized. In 1815, Badens possession of Manheim and Heidelberg was confirmed, Ludwig founded the city of Ludwigshafen there as a Bavarian rival to Mannheim. Ludwig moved the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität from Landshut to Munich in 1826, the king also encouraged Bavarias industrialization. He initiated the Ludwig Canal between the rivers Main and the Danube, in 1835 the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between the cities of Fürth and Nuremberg. Bavaria joined the Zollverein in 1834, as Ludwig had supported the Greek fight of independence his second son Otto was elected king of Greece in 1832
7.
Art Nouveau
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Art Nouveau is an international style of art, architecture and applied art, especially the decorative arts, that was most popular between 1890 and 1910. A reaction to the art of the 19th century, it was inspired by natural forms and structures, particularly the curved lines of plants. English uses the French name Art Nouveau, according to the philosophy of the style, art should be a way of life. For many well-off Europeans, it was possible to live in an art nouveau-inspired house with art nouveau furniture, silverware, fabrics, ceramics including tableware, jewellery, cigarette cases, artists desired to combine the fine arts and applied arts, even for utilitarian objects. By 1910, Art Nouveau was already out of style and it was replaced as the dominant European architectural and decorative style first by Art Deco and then by Modernism. Art Nouveau took its name from the Maison de lArt Nouveau, in France, Art Nouveau was also sometimes called by the British term Modern Style due to its roots in the Arts and Crafts Movement, Style moderne, or Style 1900. It was also sometimes called Style Jules Verne, Le Style Métro, Art Belle Époque, in Belgium, where the architectural movement began, it was sometimes termed Style nouille or Style coup de fouet. In Britain, it was known as the Modern Style, or, because of the arts and crafts movement led by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow, as the Glasgow style. In Italy, because of the popularity in Italy of designs from Londons Liberty & Co department store, in the United States, due to its association with Louis Comfort Tiffany, it was often called the Tiffany style. In Germany and Scandinavia, a style emerged at about the same time, it was called Jugendstil. In Catalonia the related style was known as Modernisme, in Spain as Modernismo, Arte joven, in Russia, it was called Modern, and Jugendstil, and Nieuwe Kunst in the Netherlands. Some names refer specifically to the forms that were popular with the Art Nouveau artists, Stile Floreal in France, Paling Stijl in the Netherlands. The new art movement had its roots in Britain, in the designs of William Morris. Early prototypes of the include the Red House of Morris. In France, the style combined several different tendencies, in architecture, it was influenced by the architectural theorist and historian Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, a declared enemy of the historical Beaux-Arts architectural style. For each function its material, for each material its form and this book influenced a generation of architects, including Louis Sullivan, Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, and Antoni Gaudí. The French painters Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard played an important part in integrating fine arts painting with decoration, I believe that before everything a painting must decorate, Denis wrote in 1891. The choice of subjects or scenes is nothing and it is by the value of tones, the colored surface and the harmony of lines that I can reach the spirit and wake up the emotions
8.
House of Wittelsbach
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The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria. The family also provided two Holy Roman Emperors, one King of the Romans, two Anti-Kings of Bohemia, one King of Hungary, one King of Denmark and Norway, the familys head, since 1996, is Franz, Duke of Bavaria. Berthold, Margrave in Bavaria, was the ancestor of Otto I, Count of Scheyern, whose third son Otto II, the Counts of Scheyern left Scheyern Castle in 1119 for Wittelsbach Castle and the former was given to monks to establish Scheyern Abbey. Duke Ottos son Louis I, Duke of Bavaria acquired also the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1214. On Duke Otto IIs death in 1253, his sons divided the Wittelsbach possessions between them, Henry became Duke of Lower Bavaria, and Louis II Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine. When Henrys branch died out in 1340 the Emperor Louis IV, the Bavarian branch kept the duchy of Bavaria until its extinction in 1777. His six sons succeeded him as Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland, the Wittelsbachs lost the Tyrol with the death of duke Meinhard and the following Peace of Schärding - the Tyrol was finally renounced to the Habsburgs in 1369. In 1373 Otto, the last Wittelsbach regent of Brandenburg, released the country to the House of Luxembourg, on Duke Alberts death in 1404, he was succeeded in the Netherlands by his eldest son, William. A younger son, John III, became Bishop of Liège, however, on Williams death in 1417, a war of succession broke out between John and Williams daughter Jacqueline of Hainaut. This last episode of the Hook and Cod wars finally left the counties in Burgundian hands in 1432, with the Landshut War of Succession Bavaria was reunited in 1505 against the claim of the Palatinate branch under the Bavarian branch Bavaria-Munich. From 1549 to 1567 the Wittelsbach owned the County of Kladsko in Bohemia, strictly Catholic by upbringing, the Bavarian dukes became leaders of the German Counter-Reformation. From 1583 to 1761, the Bavarian branch of the dynasty provided the Prince-electors and Archbishops of Cologne and many other Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire, namely Liège. Wittelsbach princes served for example as Bishops of Regensburg, Freising, Liège, Münster, Hildesheim, Paderborn and Osnabrück, in 1623 under Maximilian I the Bavarian dukes were invested with the electoral dignity and the duchy became the Electorate of Bavaria. His grandson Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria served also as Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands and his son Emperor Charles VII was also king of Bohemia. With the death of Charles son Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria the Bavarian branch died out in 1777, the Palatinate branch kept the Palatinate until 1918 and succeeded also in Bavaria in 1777. With the Golden Bull of 1356 the Counts Palatine were invested with the electoral dignity, princes of the Palatinate branch served as Bishops of the Empire and also as Elector-Archbishops of Mainz and Elector-Archbishops of Trier. Jülich and Berg fell to the Wittelsbach Count Palatine Wolfgang William of Neuburg, in 1619, the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine became King of Bohemia but was defeated by the Catholic Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, a member of the Bavarian branch. As a result, the Upper Palatinate had to be ceded to the Bavarian branch in 1623, when the Thirty Years War concluded with the Treaty of Münster in 1648, a new additional electorate was created for the Count Palatine of the Rhine
9.
Porcelain
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Porcelain /ˈpɔːrsəlᵻn, ˈpɔːrslᵻn/ is a ceramic material made by heating materials, generally including kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C. Porcelain was first developed in China around 2,000 years ago, then spread to other East Asian countries, and finally Europe. It combines well with both glazes and paint, and can be modelled very well, allowing a range of decorative treatments in tablewares, vessels. It also has uses in technology and industry. The European name, porcelain in English, come from the old Italian porcellana because of its resemblance to the translucent surface of the shell, Porcelain is also referred to as china or fine china in some English-speaking countries, as it was first seen in imports from China. Porcelain has been described as being completely vitrified, hard, impermeable, white or artificially coloured, translucent, however, the term porcelain lacks a universal definition and has been applied in a very unsystematic fashion to substances of diverse kinds which have only certain surface-qualities in common. Terms such as porcellaneous or near-porcelain may be used in such cases, a high proportion of modern porcelain is made of the variant bone china. Kaolin is the material from which porcelain is made, even though clay minerals might account for only a small proportion of the whole. The word paste is an old term for both the unfired and fired material, a more common terminology these days for the unfired material is body, for example, when buying materials a potter might order an amount of porcelain body from a vendor. The composition of porcelain is highly variable, but the mineral kaolinite is often a raw material. Other raw materials can include feldspar, ball clay, glass, bone ash, steatite, quartz, petuntse, the clays used are often described as being long or short, depending on their plasticity. Long clays are cohesive and have high plasticity, short clays are cohesive and have lower plasticity. Clays used for porcelain are generally of lower plasticity and are shorter than many other pottery clays and they wet very quickly, meaning that small changes in the content of water can produce large changes in workability. Thus, the range of content within which these clays can be worked is very narrow. The following section provides information on the methods used to form, decorate, finish, glaze. Many types of glaze, such as the iron-containing glaze used on the wares of Longquan, were designed specifically for their striking effects on porcelain. Porcelain wares may be decorated under the glaze using pigments that include cobalt and copper or over the glaze using coloured enamels. Like many earlier wares, modern porcelains are often biscuit-fired at around 1,000 °C, coated with glaze, another early method is once-fired where the glaze is applied to the unfired body and the two fired together in a single operation
10.
Chinese ceramics
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Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era, Porcelain is so identified with China that it is still called china in everyday English usage. Most later Chinese ceramics, even of the finest quality, were made on an industrial scale, many of the most important kiln workshops were owned by or reserved for the Emperor, and large quantities of ceramics were exported as diplomatic gifts or for trade from an early date. The earliest Chinese pottery was earthenware, which continued in production for utilitarian uses throughout Chinese history, but was increasingly less used for fine wares. Porcelain, on a Western definition, is a term comprising all ceramic ware that is white and translucent. The Chinese tradition recognizes two categories of ceramics, high-fired and low-fired, so doing without stoneware, which in Chinese tradition is mostly grouped with porcelain. Terms such as porcellaneous or near-porcelain may be used for stonewares with porcelain-like characteristics, the Erya defined porcelain as fine, compact pottery. Chinese pottery can also classified as being either northern or southern, the kiln types were also different. Southern materials have high silica, low alumina and high potassium oxide, the northern materials are often very suitable for stoneware, while in the south there are also areas highly suitable for porcelain. Chinese porcelain is made by a combination of the following materials. Porcelain stone - decomposed micaceous or feldspar rocks, historically known as petunse. Feldspar Quartz In the context of Chinese ceramics, the term lacks a universally accepted definition. This in turn has led to confusion about when the first Chinese porcelain was made, claims have been made for the late Eastern Han dynasty, the Three Kingdoms period, the Six Dynasties period, and the Tang dynasty. Chinese kiln technology has always been a key factor in the development of Chinese pottery, the Chinese developed effective kilns capable of firing at around 1, 000°C before 2000 BC. These were updraft kilns, often built below ground, two main types of kiln were developed by about 200 AD and remained in use until modern times. Both could reliably produce the temperatures of up to 1300°C or more needed for porcelain, in the late Ming, the egg-shaped kiln or zhenyao was developed at Jingdezhen, but mainly used there. This was something of a compromise between the types, and offered locations in the firing chamber with a range of firing conditions. According to Science, pottery dating from 20,000 years ago were found at the Xianrendong Cave site
11.
Chinese export porcelain
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Chinese export porcelain includes a wide range of Chinese porcelain that was made exclusively for export to Europe and later to North America between the 16th and the 20th century. Whether wares made for non-Western markets are covered by the term depends on context, Chinese ceramics made mainly for export go back to the Tang dynasty if not earlier, though initially they may not be regarded as porcelain. The other types include Swatow ware, made for South-East Asian and Japanese markets, Chinese celadons were exported to most of Eurasia, but not Europe, between roughly the Tang and the early Ming dynasties. Chinese export porcelain was generally decorative, but without the significance of wares produced for the Chinese home market. Except for the rare Huashi soft paste wares, traditionally Chinese porcelain was made using kaolin, while rim chips and hairline cracks are common, pieces tend not to stain. Chinese wares were thinner than those of the Japanese and did not have stilt marks. In the 16th century, Portuguese traders began importing late Ming dynasty blue and white porcelains to Europe, buyers included the Kings of England and France. After this, a number of European nations established companies trading with the countries of the Far East, the trade continued until the mid-17th century when the Ming dynasty fell in 1644, and civil war disrupted porcelain production. European traders then turned to Japanese porcelain instead, as valuable and highly prized possessions, pieces of Chinese export porcelain appeared in many 17th century Dutch paintings. The illustration shows a painting by Jan Jansz, treck that includes two Kraak-style bowls, probably late Ming, the one in the foreground being of a type the Dutch called klapmuts. The blue pigment used by the artist has faded badly since the picture was painted, under the Kangxi Emperors reign the Chinese porcelain industry at Jingdezhen was reorganised and the export trade soon flourished again. Chinese export porcelain from the late 17th century included Blue and white, wares included garnitures of vases, dishes, teawares, ewers, and other useful wares along with figurines, animals and birds. Blanc de Chine porcelains and Yixing stonewares arriving in Europe and gave inspiration to many European potters, for the potters of Jingdezhen the manufacture of porcelain wares for the European export market presented new difficulties. Writing from the city in 1712, the French Jesuit missionary Père François Xavier dEntrecolles records that, although European crests on Chinese porcelain can be found on pieces made as early as the 16th century, around 1700 the demand for armorial porcelain increased dramatically. Thousands of services were ordered with drawings of individuals coat of arms being sent out to China to be copied and shipped back to Europe and, from the late 18th century, to North America. Some were lavishly painted in enamels and gilding, while others, particularly later examples, might incorporate only a small crest or monogram in blue. A wide variety of shapes, some of Chinese or Islamic origin, oriental figurines included Chinese gods and goddesses such as Guanyin and Budai, figurines with nodding heads, seated monks and laughing boys as well as figurines of Dutch men and women. From the mid-18th century, even copies of Meissen figurines such as Tyrolean dancers were made for export to Europe, birds and animals, including cows, cranes, dogs, eagles, elephants, pheasants, monkeys and puppies, were popular
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