Limited Masterworks Wall painting Sea chart

The great era of European seafaring began in the 15th century with the voyages of Portuguese and Spanish explorers to Africa and the Americas. Yet the desire to discover distant lands, exotic plants and animals, and new trade routes has inspired humankind for millennia. The Meissen Porcelain Manufactory (Porzellanmanufaktur MEISSEN) now takes up this fascinating theme with the wall panel "Sea Chart" (21.6 × 29.5 in), issued in a strictly limited edition of 15 pieces-a work that unites history and artistry in masterful porcelain painting.

The elaborate composition was conceived by porcelain painter Lidija Schrenk, who combined several historical maps, drawing primarily on a world map created by French cartographer Hubert Jaillot in 1694. At the center of the piece lies a planisphere-the flat projection of the globe-framed by allegorical figures representing the five continents.

The execution brings together both traditional and innovative techniques. The framing of the globe was rendered by porcelain painter Ulrich Mehner in underglaze painting on the fired plate-an exceptional technique he developed in recent years. Figures and landscapes appear in fine sepia drawing, later enriched after the first firing with delicate layers of color and shading for the sun and moon. Finally, accents of burnished gold highlight both glazed and unglazed elements after a second firing, creating the shimmering effect of gold brocade painting that lends the work its luminous depth.

The wall panel "Sea Chart" is an extraordinary masterpiece that not only captures the allure of seafaring but also recalls the origins of the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory itself. In the 16th century, it was aboard great merchant ships that the first East Asian porcelains reached the Saxon court-sparking a collecting passion that led to the founding of Europe's oldest porcelain manufactory.