I arrived back from my lovely few days in Dresden and Meissen without a hitch, only to travel on the last leg of the journey on the M5 tram that was hit by a car. The car caused the accident, but we all had to get out and wait for a later tram to turn up! I thought everything was going just too well. The weather was hot on Tuesday for our visit to Meissen, although in the famous porcelain works it was cool. We watched a video about the history of porcelain manufacture, its establishment here in the 18th century, and a chance to see how the fabulous work is produced by highly skilled craftsmen and women. The photo above shows Meissen Cathedral with the castle in the background.
Having been a potter for most of my life, I recognised all the techniques used to produce the exquisite models and painted ware. Porcelain is a specially produced material, and not easy to work with. If handled too much, it dries out very quickly and is impossible to mould.
Note the difference in size between the modelled figures. The smaller of the three is the one that has been biscuit fired, and has shrunk in size. Here the lady is demonstrating how flowers and roses are made.
Each colour is painted separately, this lady is drawing the pattern on the plate, and painting in the red colour. This is "on glaze painting," the plate having been biscuit fired, then glazed fired, painted, and then needing another firing the fix the colours. It's skilled work, and the painters and modellers within the company take years to train.
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