Vienna Hofburg - Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, Silver Collection

The second-oldest porcelain manufactory after Meissen was founded in Vienna in 1718. Although at that time porcelain was a sought-after and costly collector’s object, it was not yet considered worthy of being used at the imperial table, except for the dessert course. The fact that it became acceptable at court around 1800 is also due to the court table silver having been melted down to produce coins during the wars. In 1803 Emperor Franz ordered a porcelain service comprising 120 items for the court table, including 60 pictorial plates for dessert and 24 “panorama” soup plates of exceptional quality. The choice of motifs was both patriotic and Romantic. Framed by gold rims, the scenes include erupting volcanoes, icy glacier landscapes or imposing Viennese architecture – each plate displaying three views from Austria, Switzerland and Italy, executed by the best porcelain painters after old engravings, a painstaking task that took five years.www.hofburg-wien.at | Download Tour-Guide (PD