He hired Livio and Gaetano Schepers as arcanists, or those with special knowledge of the raw materials that make up porcelain. His goal was to produce porcelain that would vie with other famous European royal porcelain manufactures, especially Meissen. ![]() In 1743, the king converted his hunting lodge outside of Naples, situated on a hill called Capodimonte, into a porcelain manufactory as part of the Real Fabbrica. The royal couple was also interested in the porcelain being produced at Doccia, just outside Florence. ![]() As part of her dowry, Queen Maria Amalia brought to her marriage no less than seventeen complete table services made of Meissen porcelain. Charles’s queen, Maria Amalia Valpurga, was the granddaughter of Augustus the Strong, the founder of the Meissen factory and one of the earliest champions of European porcelain. The Neapolitan origins of this fancy porcelain lie in the Bourbon royal court of Charles III, who ruled Naples in the 1700s. This competitive spirit resulted in some of the world’s most enduring porcelain traditions, including Sèvres, Meissen, Wedgwood, Villeroy&Boch, Limoges, Spode, and others. Among the royal courts and aristocracy, a brisk competition ensued for the most beautiful and sought-after porcelain works. In European capitals, the upper classes coveted little figurines of peasants, delicate flowers, and other tiny porcelain wares. ![]() By the eighteenth century, porcelain tableware and figurines were all the rage among royals and nobles, and these tiny collectibles remained inaccessible to the lower classes. Augustus II, prince elector of Saxony and king of Poland, had his royal artists attempt to copy the imported Asian wares, and soon heads of state all over were doing it. Wealthy classes of Europeans snapped up early Dutch imitations of Chinese export porcelain made in Delft. Soon, Europeans sought to imitate Asian hard-paste porcelain and produce it themselves on a large scale. Asian porcelain soon came into vogue, and in Italy, the more traditional brightly colored maiolica began to be viewed as old-fashioned. These hard, durable, yet delicate and translucent white vessels appeared novel to Europeans, and the wares found a hungry audience among European nobles. However, the history of European porcelain begins in the seventeenth century, when Portuguese and Dutch traders began to import porcelain from Asia in larger numbers. Throughout the Middle Ages, European traders and explorers brought small works of porcelain home from their travels in Asia. ![]() Today Capodimonte is a popular collectible throughout Italy as well as abroad. This delicate, ornate porcelain historically produced outside of Naples is immediately recognizable for its tiny pastel flowers, sprays of buds, baskets, and elegant figurines. Today, these two traditions remain vibrant, and offer an unparalleled opportunity to experience the centuries-old tradition of pulling Italian clay from the earth and transforming it into something truly special.Ĭapodimonte is a distinctive style of porcelain that stands apart from all the other ceramic traditions of southern Italy. Naples, on the other hand, has made its mark on the history of porcelain with its delicate white and pastel-hued pieces turned out in the royal porcelain works at Capodimonte. On the one hand, the Amalfi Coast is well known for its tradition of colorful, whimsical maiolica ceramics. Naples and the Amalfi Coast encapsulate the two extremes of this diverse landscape of southern Italian ceramic styles. A few of the major ceramic traditions of southern Italy trace their roots to the time of the ancient Greeks, but the Etruscans, Romans, and medieval inhabitants also left their mark. Southern Italy boasts a surprisingly diverse range of ceramic styles-everything from the milky-white porcelain of Naples to the serious and somber tones of Castelli and Squillace, to the bold shapes and fun colors of Vietrisul Mare and Grottaglie.
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