porcelain decoration in Europe during the 18th century. The
early Meissen porcelain was made from the kaolin found at Aue, near
Schneeberg, and while there is no mention of any other material, we may
be sure that clay and felspathic rock, analogous to the Chinese _kaolin_
and _petuntse_, were obtained from the same quarries, and were used
together. Until after the death of Bottger in 1719 it cannot be said
that the venture was more than a _succes d'estime_. The specimens
preserved in the Dresden Museum show that the pieces were generally
thick in substance and clumsy in shape, being often made from the moulds
that had been designed for Bottger's red-stoneware. Naturally enough
these early examples were inspired by Chinese models, both in shape and
decoration. As at St Cloud, white pieces with modelled decoration were
common. Unlike the contemporary French glassy porcelains, the
decorations in under-glaze blue were very imperfect, the blue colour
being much run and blistered; and when attempts were made at decoration
in enamel colours (i.e. colours fired on the finished glaze) the result
was unsatisfactory, as, owing to the refractory nature of the hard
felspathic material, these colours frequently scaled off. The later
success of the Meissen factory must be attributed to Herold or Horoldt
(who joined the staff in 1720 as a colour maker and painter), and to
Kandler, a sculptor, who came to the works in 1731. In the hands of
these two men the forms and decorations, still largely based on Chinese
and Japanese models, assumed a definitely European style, while the
composition of the body and the glaze, and the application of colours
and gold, were brought to perfection. Herold was appointed director of
the works a few years after 1720, and retained that post until 1765,
while Kandler was chief modeller from 1731 to 1775. The years from 1730
(when the work definitely emerged from its experimental stage) to 1775
(when Kandler died) mark the most distinctive period of the Meissen
porcelain. In the estimation of collectors also the Meissen porcelain of
this period is the most valuable, and genuine examples of _Alt-Meissen_
command high prices in the sale rooms, especially in Germany. This
appreciation was quite as apparent in the 18th century, for by 1740
Meissen porcelain had won the greatest renown in Europe, and was
actually exported by way of Constantinople over the Mahommedan countries
of the Nearer East. It is frequently d