Underglaze Painting

Underglaze painting refers to a special porcelain painting technique in which the color is applied directly to the “raw” porcelain body. The range of underglaze colors is significantly more limited than that of overglaze colors, since only a few pigments can withstand the high temperature of 1,400 degrees Celsius during the glaze firing without being damaged.

In the early 18th century, cobalt blue was initially the only underglaze color available at the MEISSEN Porcelain Manufactory. This color is applied to the still porous porcelain, penetrates the body, and reveals its brilliance only after the glaze firing. The technique is especially demanding because it allows no corrections and challenges the artist to create depth, composition, and expressiveness using only a single color.

The Meissen Onion Pattern has been the most successful cobalt blue decoration in porcelain history since 1739. Inspired by East Asian models, it depicts the pomegranate, peach, bamboo stalk, and blossoms of the lotus and chrysanthemum. At the base of the bamboo stem, the “Crossed Swords” have marked the original from Meissen since 1888.

After many years of development using the new chromium oxide green underglaze color, Johann Samuel Arnhold created the “Full Green Vine Wreath” decoration in 1817. Its fascination lies in its symbolism: green as a symbol of life, and the vine as a symbol of the power of the spirit. In this way, the vine-leaf decoration developed into a beloved MEISSEN classic, especially after white and green were declared the Saxon state colors in 1831.