The first footman came to the table with the appetisers. The whole meal was to be served on a white ceramic dinner service decorated with a pale blue border, which came from the Manardi brothers, whose workshop was in Bassano, on the mainland. It complemented the deep blue table centrepiece loaded with figs and pomegranates. Two silver candelabras lit the oval table, which was covered in crimson damask with a lace overlay. Other candlesticks were placed on the consoles with the food and the wines. The engraved salt cellars, also Venetian, had a more sober air, in keeping with the polished silverware and the cruets for the oil and vinegar, made of glass and mounted in a silver stand. Beside each plate was a fine cambric napkin, newly arrived from France, edged with Flanders lace.
The dinner organised by Catterina Antelmi for her friend Rosalba Carriera—around which the story in The Laws of Time revolves—is served on a white and light blue ceramic service. But what exactly did they use in the Antelmi house in 1730?
Porcelain was not yet used universally in Europe. For a long time, vases, plates and tureens came from China and Japan, where the secret of making “white gold” was guarded with the strictest prudence. The Indian companies imported porcelain products from the East, but given their cost such objects remained the prerogative of the very wealthy classes.
In Europe, a long search was made to reproduce porcelain, without great results. It was only in 1707 that the essential component was discovered: kaolinite. The discovery was made at the court of the Elector of Saxony Augustus the Strong. In Meissen, near Dresden, Baron Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, experimenting with kaolinite additives and helped by the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger, hit upon the formula for producing hard porcelain. In 1710, the industrial production of Meissen porcelain began. Its composition remained a secret for only a few years.
In Italy, the first hard porcelain factory was that of Giovanni Vezzi, founded in 1720 in Venice. It lasted only seven years, however, until 1727. Thirty years later, in 1757, Friederich Hewelcke, a merchant who had immigrated from Meissen, opened a second Venetian manufacture. This was followed by that of Geminiano Cozzi, founded in 1764.
Meanwhile, in Sesto Fiorentino, the Marquis Carlo Ginori founded the Manifattura di Doccia in 1735, and in 1743 the production of Capodimonte began. From this period the manufacture of porcelain began to spread throughout Europe, and would dominate the tables and living spaces for the rest of the eighteenth century.
But in 1730? The European porcelains had just started their journey, and the Chinese and Japanese ones were very expensive. Therefore, for the table they used mostly ceramic and majolica, which is a ceramic with tin-based enamel. It is commonly known in the world with the name of “faïence”, from the city of Faenza, which for centuries was among the major European producers.
In the Veneto area, the Manardi and the Antonibon, both located in Bassano, established reputations as producers of excellent ceramics and majolica in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Antonibon were also among the first to produce porcelain in the second half of the eighteenth century.
The development of the use of cutlery is very interesting. The place setting as we know it today is definitely confirmed in Italy in the second half of the sixteenth century. The fork was the last tool to come into normal usage, albeit with only three prongs up to the mid-eighteenth century. At the court in Vienna, however, as well as in England, they continued to eat with their hands until the second half of the seventeenth century.
As for the production of glass, Venice obviously dominated the market for many centuries. Even in silverware it had a respectable place, alongside excellent French and English productions.
Majolica a gran fuoco in blue monochrome
Diameter: 45 cm
Circular body with flat base, multilinear scalloped and convex edges, outer border lightly ribbed. Delft-type decoration (also know as “bull’s eye”) featuring large flowers and highly stylised leaves arranged radially along the edges. In the centre, a star-shaped corolla pattern with stylised leaves.
Private Collection.
Majolica a gran fuoco in blue monochrome
Diameter: 51.5 cm
Circular body with flat base, multilinear scalloped and convex edges, outer border lightly ribbed. Delft-type decoration (also know as “bull’s eye”) featuring large flowers and highly stylised leaves arranged radially along the edges. In the centre, a star-shaped corolla pattern with stylised leaves.
Private Collection.
Majolica a gran fuoco in blue monochrome
Diameter: 56.5 cm
Circular body with flat base, multilinear scalloped and convex edges, outer border lightly ribbed. Delft-type decoration (also know as “bull’s eye”) featuring large flowers and highly stylised leaves arranged radially along the edges. In the centre, a star-shaped corolla pattern with stylised leaves.
Private Collection.
Rouen, beginning of the 18th century
Centre decoration detail—a basket of flowers in blue and ochre.
Private Collection
Rouen, beginning of the 18th century
Centre decoration featuring a basket of flowers in blue and ochre, bordered by festoons and lambrequins (mantling).
Private Collection
Du Paquier Porcelain Manufactory, Austria (1718-1744)
Hard-paste porcelain, underglaze blue, iron red enamel, and gilding
Art Institute, Chicago
Decorated with lacey flourishing garlands and lambrequins (mantling).
Private Collection
Majolica, manufactured by Cornelius Funcke, Berlin
Terracotta, enamel, pattern in blue.
Stadtmuseum, Berlin.
Photo ©AndreaPerego
Fayence. Rouen, manufactured by Jean-Baptiste Guillibaud, ca 1730
Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum
Photo ©AndreaPerego
From The Laws of Time, a novel by Andrea Perego
Image: Bowl with decoration “à lambrequins” (mantling)
Fayence. Rouen, ca 1720
Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum
Photo ©AndreaPerego
Delft, 1727
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Factory: Giovanni Vezzi (Venice, 1720–1727)
Date: 1720–27
Medium: Hard-paste porcelain
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts, 1999
Factory: Giovanni Vezzi (Venice, 1720–1727)
Date: 1720–27
Medium: Hard-paste porcelain
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Factory: Giovanni Vezzi (Venice, 1720–1727)
Date: 1727
Medium: Hard-paste porcelain
Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice
Du Paquier Porcelain Manufactory (1718-1744), Austria
Marton Museum, Samobor, Croatia.
Displayed at the exhibition “L’incanto dell’oro bianco. Porcellane dal Museo Marton”, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, 2011.
Du Paquier Porcelain Manufactory (1718-1744), Austria
Marton Museum, Samobor, Croatia.
Displayed at the exhibition “L’incanto dell’oro bianco. Porcellane dal Museo Marton”, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, 2011.
Venice, 18th century.
The hallmarks from the Venice Mint clearly show the lion in moeca, and the initials of the silversmith, B.G.
Private Collection
Venice, 18th century.
The hallmarks from the Venice Mint clearly show the lion in moeca, and the initials of the silversmith, B.G.
Private Collection
Venice, 18th century.
The hallmarks from the Venice Mint clearly show the lion in moeca, and the initials of the silversmith, B.G.
Private Collection
Before the discovery of the formula for making porcelain by adding kaolin to the ingredients, Europeans used plates and dished made of majolica. The more fortunate bought porcelain imported from China, which was the only country producing this fine material until the beginning of the 18th century.
The original porcelain collection of King Augustus II the Strong of Saxony included this teapot and numbered 1200 pieces, of which some 500 have survived.
Exhibited in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden
Photo ©AndreaPerego
Before the discovery of the formula for making porcelain by adding kaolin to the ingredients, Europeans used plates and dishes made of majolica. The more fortunate bought porcelain imported from China, which was the only country producing this fine material until the beginning of the 18th century.
This set is made of Chinese porcelain in the famille rose style in the late Kangxi era (1662–1722) or the Yongzheng era (1723–1735).
The use of chickens as a decorative element—as seen on the teapot in the background and on the second plate—was regarded as auspicious for many centuries, and promised honour and economic well-being.
Exhibited in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden
Photo ©AndreaPerego
Exhibited in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden
Before the discovery of the formula for making porcelain by adding kaolin to the ingredients, Europeans used plates and dishes made of majolica. The more fortunate bought porcelain imported from China, which was the only country producing this fine material until the beginning of the 18th century.
Photo ©AndreaPerego
Before the discovery of the formula for making porcelain by adding kaolin to the ingredients, Europeans used plates and dishes made of majolica. The more fortunate bought porcelain imported from China, which was the only country producing this fine material until the beginning of the 18th century.
Exhibited in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden
Before the discovery of the formula for making porcelain by adding kaolin to the ingredients, Europeans used plates and dishes made of majolica. The more fortunate bought porcelain imported from China, which was the only country producing this fine material until the beginning of the 18th century.
Photo ©AndreaPerego
Porcelain, Meissen,1720–1725
Exhibited in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden
Photo ©AndreaPerego
Faience, circa 1730
On display at Schloss Weikersheim (Germany)
Photo ©AndreaPerego
First half of the eighteenth century (1700-1750)
Private Collection on display at Schloss Weikersheim (Germany)
Photo ©AndreaPerego
First half of the eighteenth century (1700-1750)
Private Collection on display at Schloss Weikersheim (Germany)
Photo ©AndreaPerego
England, circa 1700
Private Collection
England, circa 1700
Private Collection
17th century
Private Collection
Austria, Du Paquier Porcelain Manufactory (1718-1744)
Hard-paste porcelain, polychrome enamels, and gilding
Photo: Art Institute, Chicago
The Du Paquier factory was amongst the very first to produce European porcelain. The formula for the manufacture of porcelain was a closely guarded secret held in the Albrechstburg fortress at Meissen, near Dresden, from 1707. The Viennese military advisor Claudius Innocentus du Paquier managed to employ some of the Meissen craftsmen and came into possession of the formula for porcelain. His factory, the second in Europe, was founded in Vienna in 1718.
Prior to that, porcelain arrived in Europe from China, where the secret of its production was protected. The first productions of European porcelain often imitated the Chinese ornamental motifs because the market was already accustomed to them.
Austria, Du Paquier Porcelain Manufactory (1718-1744)
Hard-paste porcelain, polychrome enamels, and gilding
Photo: Art Institute, Chicago
The Du Paquier factory was amongst the very first to produce European porcelain. The formula for the manufacture of porcelain was a closely guarded secret held in the Albrechstburg fortress at Meissen, near Dresden, from 1707. The Viennese military advisor Claudius Innocentus du Paquier managed to employ some of the Meissen craftsmen and came into possession of the formula for porcelain. His factory, the second in Europe, was founded in Vienna in 1718.
Prior to that, porcelain arrived in Europe from China, where the secret of its production was protected. The first productions of European porcelain often imitated the Chinese ornamental motifs because the market was already accustomed to them.
Ceramic, Rouen, first half of the 18th century.
Displayed at the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin.
The French town of Rouen had long been the main European producer of the so-called “soft paste porcelain” i.e., produced without the kaolin. It was only with the discovery of kaolin as the essential ingredient that “hard porcelain” was produced in Europe i.e., genuine porcelain.
Photo ©AndreaPerego
Factory: Giovanni Vezzi (Venice, 1720–1727)
Date: 1720–27
Medium: Hard-paste porcelain
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1906
Factory: Giovanni Vezzi (Venice, 1720–1727)
Date: 1720–27
Medium: Hard-paste porcelain
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1906
Factory: Giovanni Vezzi (Venice, 1720–1727)
Date: 1720–27
Medium: Hard-paste porcelain
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1906
The Laws of Time 