Labeled by some historians as a lecher, Augustus apparently needed money to support his expensive taste in women, Chinese porcelain, clothes, jewelry, art, and the elaborate ceremonies and trappings of his office. However, in the early seventeen hundreds, the citizens of Saxony were still poverty-stricken after the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War. As a consequence, Augustus’ lifestyle was not up to the level he felt appropriate to his station in life. His greed created his dependence on the work of chemists and alchemists—and their supposed ability to produce gold.

Augustus relentlessly pressured Böttger to make good on his gold-making claims. Böttger, producing only failures, decided he had to break out of the increasingly hopeless situation and use his expertise to try to find the arcanum of porcelain. Augustus agreed to the switch. If his alchemist could not discover the arcanum for gold, then the arcanum for porcelain would be the next best thing. (Gold would come when the rest of Europe bought his porcelain!)

Böttger did not have many details concerning the Chinese process for making porcelain. European travelers brought back only vague descriptions of the Chinese techniques. Early attempts to duplicate the Chinese process always failed because of the unique properties of the clay they used—taken from a singular clay deposit near the city of Tinju. For two and a half years Böttger systematically tested European clay, hoping to find clay with similar properties. His search ended when he tested clay from a pit in Colditz. Böttger produced a rectangular bar with the characteristics of Chinese porcelain.

European porcelain was developed because of a chemist’s extraordinary experimental abilities and broad knowledge of chemistry. The necessary financial support came from Augustus. Three years after Böttger made porcelain, he was awarded the rank of Baron. He was twenty-nine years old. It took three more years for Augustus to grant Böttger his freedom, and that came with the provision that he continue working on the same projects. Böttger knew Augustus still wanted him to make gold and so continued to work hard to fulfill his golden promise. Unfortunately, the effort to make gold and porcelain had taken a toll on Böttger’s health. Alchemists worked under extremely hazardous conditions. Their lungs, eyes, and skin were exposed to dangerous vapors from the heavy metals and various other substances heated to high temperatures. After years of exposure to harsh chemicals and working conditions, Böttger died in 1719 at the age of thirty-seven.

With Böttger’s death, many secrets of porcelain production were lost. The enterprise was further threatened by Augustus’ forced secrecy for protection against spies. When Böttger became gravely ill, a key and knowledgeable coworker, Samuel Stölzel, defected to Vienna. While in Vienna, Stölzel met the talented painter Johann Gregor Herold. Herold was eager to paint porcelain so he, too, could gain wealth and fame. But the opportunities for making porcelain in Vienna were worse than in Meissen, Saxony, so Stölzel returned. To make amends and avoid the death penalty for his act of treason, Stölzel brought Herold with him and new colored enamels.

They both went to work at the Meissen porcelain factory, now dominated by conspiracies, scheming, and infighting. Herold fit right in. He discovered that he was able to attain riches by controlling his own pay—generously. But fame was to be more elusive. He needed to obtain the more brightly colored enamels developed by another painter, David Köhler. But Köhler refused to share his knowledge. When Köhler fell ill and died from the stress and chemical pollution in the factory, Herold simply stole the enamel recipes. It was then that his career took off in earnest.

With the factory producing high quality porcelain and using excellent, brightly colored enamels, Augustus yearned for a sculptor to develop porcelain figurines. Johann Joachim Kaendler’s style and ability with porcelain proved to be exceptional. Kaendler was a bit too good for the jealous Herold, who feared painting would decrease in importance, and thus threaten his supremacy and fame. As Kaendler’s reputation grew, so did friction with Herold. As sculptor, Kaendler designed the porcelain pieces, and to Herold’s disappointment, decided how the sculptures were to be painted. Many of his designs were elaborate, but none so elaborate as the table centerpiece that was an eight-foot high working replica of the Fountain of the Piazza Navona in Rome. Upon its unveiling at a banquet honoring Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, ambassador to the court of Saxony, it immediately became the focal point. Usually the expensive, high-fashion clothes monopolized the conversation at such banquets. At this banquet, however, clothing was second to Kaendler’s fountain. The fountain gave Kaendler a major triumph over Herold. To Herold’s disappointment, the bright enamels played a minor supportive role and received little notice.

[more]