The Meissen Marcolini Period
The Marcolini period of Meissen manufacture takes its name from Count Camillo Marcolini, Prime Minister of the German kingdom of Saxony, where the Meissen factory was located, who was also named director of the Meissen works in 1774, a position he held until 1814. Marcolini perfected the Neo-Classical style of Meissen forms and decoration introduced by his predecessor and its products are highly valued and sought after. Meissen products from the Marcolini period were marked with the traditional crossed swords plus a star (sometimes looking like an asterisk) located near the short ends of the swords, all in underglaze blue.
The final years of Count Marcolini’s directorship coincided with the Napoleonic Wars (1803 to 1815) raging across Europe. These wars caused the porcelain works great financial losses, on top of those produced by their efforts to produce the finest quality porcelains. The state of Saxony itself suffered heavily in the wars, which made the porcelain manufactory’s plight all the more difficult. The Meissen works survived but spent the next century largely in shadow of France’s Severes porcelain works.
Reference note by p4A editorial staff; 05.09.