Fürstenberg porcelain
The beginnings of the manufactory until about 1755
The date of foundation of the Fürstenberg porcelain manufactory is 11 January 1747. On 29 January 1750, the first firing of the still unglazed ware took place in the new kiln. This firing contained 119 pieces, including coffee pots, tea pots, rinsing pots, large and small koppchen, cups with handles, flower pots, mustard tins, hand candlesticks, pipe bowls, cane knobs with figures, knife bowls with foliage, tobacco tins decorated in the same way, round and oval butter tins, salt cellars, large octagonal salad bowls, oval bouillon and sugar bowls. All these dishes of the first fires were either unpainted or also painted blue and colourful. However, according to today's opinion, this first firing is more likely to have produced fritter porcelain.
Things get really interesting in a list from the year 1752, which reports on various masses from which different porcelains were produced and fired. These porcelains were drawn separately, including "2 Teepotte with A", "2 Teepotte SB" and "2 Teepotte with B". ," 2 Teepotte SB" as well as "No. 50 A Teacups", "No. 50 B Cups", "No. 50 C Sugar Bowls", "No. 19 A Upper Cups".
On 3 December 1753, the Duke of Brunswick decreed that the "F" was to be used as a trademark on Fürstenberg porcelain with immediate effect. It was not until 1754 that it was possible to fire porcelain that satisfied the Duke. On the basis of the records in the manufactory archives, one can extrapolate that 20,000 porcelains were already fired in 1755. For the first firings, the archives show that the dishes from the first firing on 1 October 1753 were marked with the letter "J" and those from the second firing with "K". It can be assumed that these marks were carved or pressed into the harness.
The 1st price list of 6 August 1754 lists everything that was sold in the then existing show hall. It lists 358 harnesses and 620 gallantries - all of which were of medium quality. The fire book of 1755 shows how varied the production was already at that time: Tea bowls, upper and lower bowls, ordinary, ribbed and "fluted" coffee, tea and milk pots, sinks, sugar bowls, tea caddies; Dinner, tea and coffee spoons, tea kettles, toothpick cases, round cases, figural cane knobs, "poussé knife handles, espergis", toilet boxes, tall candlesticks, violins, smooth and poussé clock cases, turned tureens, sponge boxes, " swan-neck pipe", smooth tabatiers, large and small plates, chocolate cups, with" choquelade saucers ", plus figurines, including monkeys were listed. Much of what is listed here is unknown today, such as the toilet box: no one can say today what it looked like..