Libro

In this book I would like to show tire importance of tire developments at the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Vienna which took place under the visionary director Conrad yon Sorgenthal. With Sorgenthal"s appointment in 1784. tire output of the manufactory underwent a decisive transformation as the designers and the new director opened up to the artistic ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, the possibilities of porcelain as a inedimn and the expectations of kin increasingly sophisticated society. Porcelain manufacture became an art form rallier than a craft. My hope is that tire illustrations in (Iris hook will demonstrate the unrivalled quality and tire creative variety of the porcelain from tile Sorgentlial period.
The only comprehensive work on the quality and beauty of Viennese Porcelain of the neo-classical period Was published 75 years ago. The aim of this book. however, is not only to illustrate the '''beauty" that today has lost its importance. but to how that Conrad yon Sorgenthal and his employees pursued a higher goal. namely. that of creating art. The "factory" became an "art institution", a place where its ambitious director constantly strove to achieve technical and artistic perfection in the porcelain objects manufactured.
The history of that age. as reflected in the personage of Conrad yon Sorgenthal, is described by Claudia Jobst in the first three chapters of this book. Her work aims to illustrate the Age of Enlightenment with its rich intellectual life, a period which was not only characterised by a striving for rationality. but also included a romantic strand that reveals itself in exotic. sentimental and gothicising subjects in porcelain.
The characteristics of a neo-classical work of fine art are harmony. symmetry and rhythm. Clearness and precision are to evoke m impression of order and harmony in die viewer. liver since the appearance of Johann Joachim Winckelmann with his ideal of "noble simplicity and silent greatness", Greek art had been regarded as the universally applicable model. Aesthetic writings taught that nature found its ideal expression in Greek art and that I y imitating the ancient Greeks. it was possible to discover the rules of truth awl beauty. Imitation. however was by no means synonymous with copying, but rather with a creative implementation of the aesthetic principles of classical antiquity, An interpretation of  these principles suitable to the porcelain material carne to life in Viennese porcelain of the late 18th century.
One aspect of neo-classical Viennese porcelain, the biscuit figures, can unfortunately only be discussed marginally in this context, They would deserve a publication and art-historical discourse of their own, since they are the purest expression of their age, Their great rarity and the minor role they play in public collections account for a certain lack of understanding today. I do hope, however, that the small number of biscuit figures illustrated in this book will draw attention to their artistic significance,
In the final chapter of this book, Wanda Zaleska discusses a hitherto unexplored subject, the commissions made by the Polish aristocracy at the Viennese porcelain manufactory. The chapter illustrates specific taste and the regional situation in a part of the Hapsburg Empire which was one of the major markets for Viennese porcelain of the oeo-classical period,
I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to all those private collectors who graciously allowed me to photograph their objects for this book, lu this respect T am also most grateful to the Öster-reichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna,
The following museums and institutions kindly provided me with photographs of their objects: Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien; Museen des Mobiliendepots, Wien; lparmiivészeti Múzeum, Budapest.: Umeleckopumyslové Museum v Praze, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie; Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. München; Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Det Dauske Kunstindustriemuseum, Kobenhavn: The Art Institute of Chicago; The Detroit Institute of Arts; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown; and Sotheby's, New York. Without their generous assistance, this book could never have been published,

Foreword
7

I. Conrad von Sorgenthal
The Biography of a Disciple of the Age of Enlightenment
9

II. The Reformed Porcelain Manufactory
Conrad von Sorgenthal as Manager
23

III. Neo-classical Porcelain
The Art of the Enlightenment in Vienna
35

IV. Plates
47

Ornament 49 - Mythology 87
Portraiture 109 - Landscapes and Views 121
Flora, Fauna, Minerals 137

V. Viennese Porcelain in Poland
Polish Commissions Vienna
169

Bibliography
175