Gallery of Porcelain
New permanent exhibition
open from 26 April 2024
is available as part of the Royal Route
This noblest type of ceramics has accompanied us for centuries. It delights us, adds splendour and passes its traditions from generation to generation. The new permanent exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw features the finest examples of antique porcelain from the royal manufactory in Meissen and the Far East. Some of them once even adorned the tables of Polish kings.
Colourful history of “white gold”
The first products made of this fragile, white and shiny material originating from China appeared in Europe at the end of the 14th century and quickly won the hearts of many kings and princes. Since the items themselves were extremely expensive, they became a symbol of prestige and a testimony to the rulers’ good taste, serving them, however, a rather representative than utilitarian function. A common practice back then was moreover to create special cabinets exclusively to display such objects.
Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony of the House of Wettin (1670–1733), was one of the greatest enthusiasts of porcelain. No wonder, then, that it was him who amassed the largest collection of Far Eastern items in Europe at the time. It was moreover under the auspices of this very monarch that two alchemists, Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus and Johann Friedrich Böttger, after much trial and error, managed to unravel the secret of a closely guarded Chinese formula and produce the first truly European porcelain. The discovery allowed Augustus II to establish a pioneering manufactory on the continent, for the site of which he chose Meissen.
Unique collections of the Royal Castle
The Porcelain Gallery exhibits over 200 dishes and other utilitarian and decorative items. Most of them were produced in the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen, whereas others originate from the Far East and come from China and Japan.
The Meissen exhibits include examples of Böttger stoneware created at the very beginning of the royal manufactory’s operations as well as a unique and only set of 18 dishes decorated with motifs of fantastic animals (Fabeltiere) in Poland, introduced into the Meissen porcelain design by Adam Friedrich von Löwenfinck (ca. 1714–1754), one of the most prominent faience and porcelain painters in history.
Many of the artefacts displayed in the Gallery are associated with the Kings of Poland from the House of Wettin – they either come from the collection of Augustus II or were commissioned by Augustus III and were used in royal court confectioneries, including the one at the Warsaw castle.
The arrangement of the exhibition refers to the original solutions of the 18th-century porcelain cabinets. The artefacts have been displayed in five original Dutch cabinets-showcases from ca. 1750 as well as on French chests of drawers and a console table from the first half of the 18th century.
Exhibition curator: Dr Anna Szkurłat
Curatorial collaboration: Norbert Haliński
Project: Piotr Kubiak
Conservation supervision: Maria Szczypek