Antiques Column

Dresden does not refer to a particular maker, but rather a combination of at least forty porcelain workshops in and around the city of Dresden in Germany, which became a major centre for the production of porcelain.

Numerous factories produced wares in the style of Meissen and Sevres and many of these makers used copies of old Meissen marks.

The hard paste porcelain used by most workshops in Dresden is less white and refined than Meissen porcelain and the decoration is not applied as carefully. Nevertheless, some of the best pieces may be mistaken for Meissen.

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Although there was a tradition in Dresden of producing fine porcelain figures, less expensive figures also found a ready market. The very inexpensive figures were made in a single two piece mould, while more elaborate examples were assembled from many pieces.

Among the most common products are mythological and pastoral figures and groups together with birds and animals.

Dresden figures are often not marked, except by impressed numbers, but with Dresden it is much better to concentrate on quality and not the maker’s mark.

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