Royal Copenhagen

History

Early years

Starting in the 17th century, Europeans, long fascinated by the blue and white porcelain exported from China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, began to imitate the precious ware. The Royal Copenhagen manufactory's operations began in a converted post office in 1775. It was founded by chemist Frantz Heinrich Müller who was given a 50-year monopoly to create porcelain. Though royal patronage was not at first official, the first pieces manufactured were dining services for the royal family. Johan Theodor Holmskjold was appointed as the first director-in-chief of the company.

When, in 1779, King Christian VII assumed financial responsibility, the manufactory was styled the Royal Porcelain Factory. Holmskjold headed the operations until his death in 1793.

The Royal Porcelain Factory was headed by pharmacist Ludvig Manthey from 1796 to 1811.

The company was later headed by Carl Wilhelm Bergsøe (1800–1861. He was the father of writer Wilhelm Bergsøe whose childhood memories served as inspiration for his novel Fra den gamle fabrik.

In 1851, Royal Copenhagen showed its production at the Great Exhibition in London. In 1868, as a result of royal companies' privatization, the Royal Porcelain Factory came into private ownership and was sold at auction. The buyer was businessman Gustav Adolph Falck (1833–1892).

Merger with Aluminia

In the mid-19th century the many large European porcelain companies generally stood aloof from artistic developments such as Japonisme, and the Arts and Crafts movement, concentrating on tableware, and often struggling to throw off what had become the deadening influence of Rococo and Neoclassical styles. In the 1870s most continued to produce an eclectic variety of revivalist styles, though sometimes experimenting with glazes, as at Meissen porcelain, which began to produce monochrome vases from 1883.

The first major porcelain company to seriously change its styles was Royal Copenhagen, which made radical changes from 1883, when it was bought by Aluminia, an earthenware company. Arnold Krog, an architect under 30 with no practical experience of the industry, was made artistic director the next year, and rapidly shifted designs in the same directions art pottery was exploring, commissioning many painters to design for the factory. Japanese influences were initially very strong. The new wares soon won prizes at various international exhibitions, and most of the large porcelain makers began to move in similar directions, causing problems for the smaller art potteries.

Shortly after Aluminia's acquisition, Royal Copenhagen production was moved to a modern factory building at Aluminia's site in Frederiksberg, on the outskirts of Copenhagen. At the Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris, Royal Copenhagen won the Grand Prix, giving it international exposure.