Information and makers marks for KPM Berlin porcelain.

The Royal Porcelain Factory in Berlin (German: Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin, abbreviated as KPM), also known as the Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin and whose products are generally called Berlin porcelain, was founded in 1763 by King Frederick II of Prussia (known as Frederick the Great). Its actual origins, however, lie in three private enterprises which, under crown patronage, were trying to establish the production of “white gold” (i.e. porcelain) in Berlin from the mid-18th century onwards.

The company logo is a cobalt blue sceptre, which is stamped (painted prior to 1837) on every piece. All painted pieces produced by KPM are signed by the painter. KPM is still producing to this day; each piece of dishware and decorative porcelain is entirely unique. Reference: Wikipedia

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Information and makers marks for Meissen porcelain. The Meissen Porcelain Factory is located in the town of Meissen, near Dresden, in Saxony. It was the first hard-paste porcelain manufacturer in Europe, thanks to the 1708 discovery of the secret of porcelain by Johann Friedrich Böttger and Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. Products are still made by hand, ensuring that a high standard of quality is always achieved. In the early-twentieth century the factory introduced new patterns, in response to changing fashions, and began to commission designers to create new forms. The ‘T glatt’ service is one example of this practice. Reference: The British Museum.

Highly admired for its lightness, translucency and mysterious origin, Chinese porcelains became more easily available in Europe from the late 14th century. For the next three centuries Europeans tried, and failed, to emulate the secret Chinese recipe for true or hard-paste porcelain.

The breakthrough came in 1709, two years after the German alchemist, Johann Friedrich Bottger, abandoned his attempts at making gold in favour of porcelain research. His patron, the great porcelain collector Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Saxon Elector, set up the first European porcelain manufactory in Meissen, Germany, in 1710. Reference: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.

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Nymphenburg Porcelain Makers Marks and Information.

The Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (in German: Porzellanmanufaktur Nymphenburg), manufacturer of Nymphenburg porcelain, is situated next to the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, capital of Bavaria, and since the mid-eighteenth century has been manufacturing porcelain of high artistic value. Reference: Wikipedia

Nymphenburg porcelain has been manufactured since the mid-eighteenth century and is renown for porcelain of high artistic value.

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