Nymphenburg: Pair of small table vases, probably by J. Häringer, ca 1760
Nymphenburg porcelain tableware, c. 1760–1765
The Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (German: Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg), is located at the Nördliche Schloßrondell in one of the Cavalier Houses in front of the Nymphenburg PalaceinMunich, Germany, and since its establishment in 1747 has produced porcelain of high quality.[1]
History
After his accession in 1745 Maximilian III Joseph, Prince-Elector of Bavaria, commanded the establishment of manufacturing companies in order to bail out the state finances. From 1747 attempts were made to manufacture porcelain and at the end of that year the former Neudeck Castle in the area now the Munich suburb of Au-Haidhausen was made available for that purpose. Up to 1754 the experiments were a miserable failure[citation needed] and lost considerable amounts of money,[citation needed] but in that year the efforts to manufacture porcelain finally began to succeed. In the same year the rococo porcelain sculptor Franz Anton Bustelli came to work at the factory. In 1755 the factory received its first commission from the Bavarian court and in 1756 came the first success in painting the porcelain in colour. The management of the jurist and entrepreneur Count Sigmund von Haimhausen from 1758 ensured that the factory was placed on a sound commercial footing. By 1761 it had moved to a cavalier house on the grand circle in front of the royal Nymphenburg Palace, where it is still located today.
The cavalier house on the grand circle in front of Nymphenburg Palace, production site since 1761
Among the artists who followed Bustelli were Dominik Auliczek the elder (1734–1804) and Johann Peter Melchior. A great promoter of the works was Ludwig I, who gave them many commissions. Particular favourites were dinner services with copies of famous paintings or with Bavarian landscapes in an antique style.
In 1822 Friedrich von Gärtner, the fashionable architect, was appointed artistic director of the factory. In the middle of the 19th century its financial position deteriorated to the extent that in 1856 all artistic production was halted and it was decided to privatise the factory. It was leased out for the first time in 1862 and its focus shifted to the production of technical, medical and sanitary porcelain goods.
In 1887 Albert Bäuml (1855–1929) took a lease of the factory. His aim was to regain the previous high artistic level of the factory's products: it was Bäuml, for example, who "rediscovered" Bustelli. This aim was realised at around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and besides historical copies, elegant Jugendstil ceramics were developed.
The Nymphenburg Palace also accommodates the Nymphenburg Porcelain Museum (the Bäuml Collection). Guided tours through the factory can be arranged by prior appointment. Nymphenburg Palace is known to have been the working place of artists and sculptors like Hanns Goebl and Franz Anton Bustelli.[2]
^"History". Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
Bibliography
Marita Krauss: Die königlich-bayerischen Hoflieferanten. Volk Verlag, München 2008, ISBN 978-3-937200-27-9, S. 246–259.
Katharina Hantschmann: Nymphenburger Porzellan 1797 bis 1847. Geschichte, Modelle, Dekore. Klinkhardt und Biermann, München u. a. 1996, ISBN 3-7814-0390-4, Dissertation der Universität München, 1993.
Friedrich H. Hofmann: Geschichte der bayerischen Porzellan-Manufaktur Nymphenburg. 3 Bände. Hiersemann, Leipzig 1921–1923. Nachdruck: Scherer, Edition Arkanum, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-89433-009-0.
Barbara Krafft, Max Oppel (Red.): 250 Jahre Porzellan-Manufaktur Nymphenburg 1747 – 1997. IP-Verlags-Gesellschaft, München 1997, ISBN 3-00-001191-9.
Timo Nüßlein: Der „Erste Baumeister des Dritten Reichs“ und das Porzellan – Paul Ludwig Troost und die Staatliche Porzellanmanufaktur Nymphenburg, in: Keramos 220, ISSN0453-7580, Gesellschaft der Keramikfreunde, Deggendorf 2013.
Arno Schönberger: Nymphenburger Porzellan. Prestel, München 1949 (Bilderhefte des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums München4).
Hans Thoma: Porzellan-Manufaktur Nymphenburg. 1747–1947. Zweihundert Jahre Nymphenburg. Bruckmann, München 1947.
Alfred Ziffer: Nymphenburger Porzellan. Sammlung Bäuml. Arnold, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-925369-61-9.
Rainer Schuster, 1997. Nymphenburger Porzellan. Kostbarkeiten aus der Sammlung Bäuml und dem Residenzmuseum München. Munich: Bayerische Verwaltung der staatlichen Schlösser, Gärten und Seen.