{"product_id":"meissen-porcelain-journal","title":"Karl Berling Meissen Porcelain Journal — 1900 German Decorative Arts Plates Notebook","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFor nearly two centuries, the secret of porcelain was one of the most jealously guarded in the world. The Chinese had known how to make it since the Tang dynasty; the Japanese had mastered it in the seventeenth century; but in Europe, despite decades of experiment by alchemists and craftsmen across the continent, the formula remained elusive. When, in 1708, the Saxon alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger finally cracked it — working in the service of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony — it was one of the most significant technological achievements of the early eighteenth century. The manufactory that Augustus established at Meissen in 1710 was the first true porcelain manufactory in Europe, and it remained, for most of the eighteenth century, the most prestigious. Karl Berling’s \u003cstrong\u003eDas Meissner Porzellan\u003c\/strong\u003e, published in 1900 at the bicentenary of that discovery, is a chromolithographic documentation of what two centuries of that history produced: the botanical services, the figure groups, the painted designs that made Meissen synonymous with the highest achievement of European decorative art.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe cover of this journal carries Berling’s plates — the soft pinks and blues of the botanical designs, the precise detail of hand-painted flowers and gilded borders, the decorative vocabulary of Europe’s most celebrated porcelain manufactory rendered in the chromolithographic precision of 1900. It is an image that carries within it two centuries of artistic ambition and technical mastery: the \u003cem\u003edeutsche Blumen\u003c\/em\u003e of the 1740s, the naturalistic botanical designs that transformed Meissen’s surface decoration from stylised orientalism into something rooted in the European garden and the European natural history tradition.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat: Hardcover journal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets) with perforations for easy removal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBinding: Casewrap sewn binding — flexible and lay-flat\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDimensions: 5.75 × 8 inches\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWeight: 100 g\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCover: Matte laminated full-wrap print\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIllustration: Karl Berling, \u003cem\u003eDas Meissner Porzellan\u003c\/em\u003e (1900) — chromolithograph\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMeissen manufactory botanical and decorative designs, 1710–1900\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003ePerfect For\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePorcelain collectors and ceramics enthusiasts\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMeissen and German decorative arts lovers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArt history and design collectors\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAdmirers of botanical illustration and hand-painted ceramics\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAntique notes and collection documentation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA beautiful gift for lovers of European decorative arts\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Story Behind the Plates\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe secret of Saxon white gold, Augustus the Strong’s porcelain obsession, and how the \u003cem\u003edeutsche Blumen\u003c\/em\u003e botanical designs transformed the decorative arts of a continent — \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/new-old-time\/karl-berling-1900-meissen-porcelain-das-meissner-porzellan-german-decorative-arts\"\u003eread the full story on our blog →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LeBonJournal","offers":[{"title":"Journal","offer_id":62832088678769,"sku":"24167511593656087512","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/5367\/0769\/files\/Karl_Berling_1900_Meissen_porcelain_journal.png?v=1776178061","url":"https:\/\/lebonjournal.com\/products\/meissen-porcelain-journal","provider":"LeBonJournal","version":"1.0","type":"link"}