Ludwigsburg porcelain

Three dancers, c. 1763, in the lighter ballet costumes pioneered by the ballet master Jean-Georges Noverre.[1]

Ludwigsburg porcelain is porcelain made at the Ludwigsburg Porcelain Manufactory founded by Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, on 5 April 1758 by decree as the Herzoglich-ächte Porcelaine-Fabrique. It operated from the grounds of the Baroque Ludwigsburg Palace. After a first two decades that were artistically, but not financially, successful, the factory went into a slow decline and was closed in 1824. Much later a series of other companies used the Ludwigsburg name, but the last production was in 2010.[2]

A similar range of wares was made to other German factories. Tableware was most often painted with European flowers, and Ludwigsburg made little in chinoiserie styles, already somewhat past their most fashionable. Figures were a relatively large proportion of production compared to other German factories, and included series of court ballet dancers, peasants, and musicians. There were some (more than usually) miniature groups on bases, with figures some three inches high, including ones showing the annual "Venetian fair" held at the court, and some groups satirizing court fashions. Beyer produced more monumental figures in an early Neoclassical style, including a set of musicians.[3]

Part of a service with the Martinelli-Giovanelli arms, by Gottlieb Friedrich Riedel, 1762–1763

The original manufactory became famous for its figurines,[4] which are interesting because they very likely were modelled directly on the costumes used in the court ballet, another enthusiasm of Duke Charles Eugene. Between 1760 and 1766 he had managed to entice to Stuttgart the innovative choreographer and ballet master Jean-Georges Noverre, then out of favour in Paris. One of Noverre's innovations was using lighter costumes allowing the dancer to move freely, shown in some of the figure groups, as the one illustrated here, but not all.[5]

The 18th-century factory mark was two "C"s interlocked in blue, with one reversed, with or without a ducal coronet above.[6]

  1. ^ Le Corbelier, p. 290
  2. ^ Marshall, Ludwigsburg (01); Battie, p. 100
  3. ^ Battie, p. 100
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Campbell was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Le Corbelier, p. 290; for example, this figure pair shows the older style
  6. ^ Battie, p. 100; An example without coronet, from The Coiffure.