Underglaze Painting
Today, the MEISSEN Manufactory produces all pieces with the classic Onion Pattern exclusively using underglaze technique. Porcelain pieces decorated with the “Full Green Vine Wreath” motif are also painted using this method. This approach ensures the durability of the colors and the characteristic brilliance of the decorations for decades to come.
Raw Porcelain Body
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 Cobalt Blue Decoration
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.
Overglaze Painting
On glazed porcelain, this painting technique reveals its full brilliance only after the subsequent color firing. The painters each specialize in specific areas of the diverse decorative palette.
Discover nowColor Laboratory
For centuries, MEISSEN’s in-house color laboratory has developed, refined, and tested its unique colors and gold preparations. The color archive contains around 10,000 carefully preserved color formulas.
Discover nowTrademark
Since 1722, the Crossed Swords from the Saxon electoral coat of arms have marked the authenticity and quality of Meissen porcelain. As Europe’s first trademark, they continue to be applied by hand to this day.
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