Bomboniere, Art Nouveau Tableware
Here is one more item of vintage tableware, a Bomboniere in Art Nouveau style. But let’s first delve into the European porcelain’s background. The high quality of porcelain, similar to the porcelain of China, was discovered about 1707 by Böttger, an alchemist, and Tschirnhaus, a physicist, the scientists and researchers in Meissen Porcelain factory in Dresden, Germany.
Later during the 18th century, each European country produced hard-paste porcelain. In this kind of porcelain, the hard-paste, named True Porcelain, differed from the soft-paste or the Artificial Porcelain. Hart-paste porcelain was more crack-resistant, most applied for hot liquids, and occasionally could be prepared for the second firing in which the glaze was fused. Conversely, the soft paste contained a small amount of clay, had fewer plastic characteristics and was difficult to shape. All European countries had their specific Neoclassical style and used both methods, but in Europe, the hard-paste became the primary porcelain production. Because of this progress, the prosperous class of European societies could consume Austrian, English, German and Italian porcelain.
Biscuit Porcelain In European Pottery
Biscuit porcelain, widely used in European pottery, was unglazed with a matte appearance similar to the slicked flattened marble, a distinct material for sculptural figurines. Moreover, the biscuit figures were fashionable during Neoclassicism in Europe and were usually expensive.
Here I would like to return to the topic of glazed porcelain with its brilliant luminosity and unbelievable strength. The tableware needed a glaze for protection, unlike the products made by unglazed biscuit porcelain. Glazing’s process offered more quality to the properties of porcelain and distinguished itself from porous, opaque, and coarse earthenware.
Subsequently, at the turn of the 20th-century, decorative art in porcelain used the Art Nouveau style to express the pottery design aesthetically. Porcelain designs inspired by Japanese patterns were shaped as natural and vegetal forms and depicted various flowers’ stems and roots. The Secessionist Ware distinguished itself from the Neoclassist types in Europe and was developed by Mintons, a European leading ceramic factory. Parallel to the production of Mintons, in other parts of Europe and under the industrial techniques for the broader markets, the porcelain manufacturers remained loyal to ornamental and natural motifs. They continued using their inspiration from flowers, birds, and human figures. Elongated bottle forms and unconventional extravagant curved shapes were abundant in Art Nouveau’s tableware.
Get more information on this overview page.
Text: Lalerou
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