Firing
The most common method of glazing is dipping the piece into a glaze bath. The porous body absorbs the water from the glaze, while the solid components remain on the surface as a thin, even layer. This technique is especially well suited for tableware and larger vessels.
Bisque Firing
In addition to the carefully balanced composition of the porcelain body, advances in firing technology were crucial to porcelain’s breakthrough in Meissen at the beginning of the 18th century. Porcelain objects spend hundreds of hours in the kilns at varying temperatures. Immediately after drying, they undergo their first firing—the so-called bisque firing.
At temperatures of around 950 degrees Celsius, the structure of the porcelain is strengthened, creating a porous, absorbent body that forms the basis for all subsequent steps. Underglaze decorations are applied to these bisque-fired blanks, and the Crossed Swords trademark is painted on. Bisque firing is therefore the porcelain’s first “trial by fire” and lays the foundation for its mechanical stability, further processing, and later radiant quality.
Glaze Firing
After the porcelain pieces have been fired once and coated with glaze—tableware pieces in the so-called pink dipping glaze, and figurines often by fine spraying—the glaze firing follows. At temperatures of up to 1,400 degrees Celsius, the glaze fully fuses with the previously porous porcelain.
During the glaze firing, which can take several days depending on the size and complexity of the pieces, the porcelain shrinks by about one sixth of its original volume. Only when the composition of the porcelain body and the firing technology are perfectly coordinated do the characteristic hardness, crystal-clear glaze, and high degree of whiteness that distinguish genuine Meissen porcelain emerge. This final firing transforms the previously porous blanks into durable, radiantly smooth, and dimensionally stable works of art.
Form Archive
The impressive form archive houses around 700,000 plaster molds. These molds provide the basis for reproducing approximately 9,000 figurines and around 15,000 tableware pieces.
Discover nowFigurine Assembly
During figurine assembly, individual, unfired porcelain parts are joined by hand, reworked, and refined. This is how sculptural figures and artful details are created with precision.
Discover nowGlazing
After the first firing, the porcelain is glazed by dipping or spraying. During the subsequent glaze firing, the glossy protective layer is created, giving the porcelain its distinctive surface.
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