Arts and Culture

It was with feelings of great curiosity and virtually no knowledge of porcelain, faience or the difference between them, that I met up with a group of 16 ZIWA ladies last Wednesday 14 April. For this visit, Chairlady Anne Zulauf gathered our group at the doors of the impressive Zunfthaus zur Meisen building overlooking the Limmat, at one end of the bridge of Munster.

The Guild House (Zunfthaus) houses the Landesmuseum (the Swiss National Museum)'s collection of porcelain and faience dating back to the 18th Century. Finally, I was going to get a glimpse of the inside of this magnificent, baroque edifice built 250 ago and I wasn't disappointed either! We all filed up a grandiose, stone staircase and after depositing our coats in the cloakrooms entered the main exhibit room. I felt like I had been transported back in time: the decorative, baroque ceilings immediately grabbed my attention, as did the grand, wooden paneling and the many, many splendid windows. It looked like a hall fit for kings!

Our guide Corinna ushered us to the first exhibits and began to demystify the differences between porcelain and faience. She explained that "faience" originated in the city of Faenza in Italy where tin-glazed (majolica) pottery was first manufactured. Porcelain, on the other hand, was first made in China from recipes, which date as far back at 1000BC. The more refined and coveted of the two, it is the very rare, soft, white clay material known as "kaolin" that makes porcelain so precious. Despite its historical origins, it was not until 1200s that traders and merchants first came into contact with porcelain. It was the East India Company that brought over the first Chinese imports of porcelain to Europe. The dècor of these items was typically Chinese and while they were very expensive and exquisitely made, the Chinese kept the best quality china for themselves! It would seem that the quality of porcelain depends very much on the kaolin used and where the latter is found. Apparently, you can produce soft porcelain, which is more fragile and less transparent by using far less kaolin. Porcelain was treasured like white gold and people at the time were greedy to possess it. The thicker, red-glazed faience did not have the wow factor of the superior porcelain. To give us an idea of the high esteem that porcelain was held in, our guide mentioned how Louis XIV of France at one time had all his silver platters replaced by porcelain. From the moment that Chinese porcelain was brought over, the race was on among European alchemists to see who could unlock the secrets of the porcelain recipe. It was not until 1709 that a German Duke's alchemist finally cracked it and began producing what became known as Meissen porcelain. The latter very much retained the Chinese influence in its designs and patterns. All the European courts were eager to possess this knowledge to produce porcelain. Once they fathomed the secret, they would begin production within months.

In Zurich, it was a later mayor of the city and his relatives who first began to produce porcelain for the city and founded the factory in Kilchberg-Schooren (1763-1790). Another interesting fact, that became apparent as we worked our way around the different exhibits, was how lightly 18th society concerned itself with forgery and imitation. Artists would work at one factory and move onto the next, taking their designs with them. As a result, the same patterns, such as pimpernels on an oil and vinegar piece, reappear on other porcelain of the time. Similarly, as etchings of Rembrandts also proved popular they were reproduced across different pieces. Indeed, in the Zurich factory, they reproduced pieces that were very much influenced by real Chinese patterns and colours. It's hard to distinguish between the authentic Chinese made cup and the Zurich produced one. Many examples of teapots, cups and saucers could be seen which came directly from the Chinese tea ceremony tradition.

One pattern unique to Zurich porcelain were the landscape painted pieces inspired by Salomon Gessner, a poet, writer and painter of the time. Towards the end of production in the Zurich factory, they desperately tried to keep up with the changing forms and decorations of the time: attempting to copy a Wedgewood piece in white as well as a Napolean III tea set, in a typically fashionable, bright yellow colour. Amidst the array of porcelain and faience pieces, our group viewed everything from tableware, earthenware to charming, little figurines. With regard to the latter, we were let in on an 18th Century custom of the time: for example after lunch on a spring day, the family would set out a group of figurines on the table for the guests' amusement. The figurines came in various themes: allegories, the exotic, the seasons, elements, continents, love or hunting and wine.

Last but by no means least we had the opportunity to examine the pièce de la resistance of the collection: the famous Einsiedeln service which was laid out in all its glory, in a separate room behind a huge glass casing. The 300 pieces of porcelain were a gift from the government of Zurich to the Prince Abbot of Einsiedeln. The latter had acted as mediator between the Zurich and Schwyz cantons in a fishing dispute and had ruled in favour of the former canton. Among my favourite pieces in this exhibit was a decorative centerpiece that was both intricately detailed and exquisitely crafted. The rose saltshakers were also greatly appreciated by our group.

All in all, this was an informative and very enjoyable visit. I highly recommend it to you if you haven't yet been!