Royal Vienna Porcelain

Describes a style of porcelain that has a particular decorative style that draws on paintings and sculpture of the Renaissance with strong elements of Greek Classicism. The wares are highly decorated, sometimes with gilding and elaborate border designs and sometimes Ormolu or Metal Mounts to complement the superbly detailed painting done with a highly romantic aesthetic using soft hues.

Most Royal Vienna porcelain was meant for display as art with the most popular pieces being urns and vases and portrait plates. Some super-fine chinaware was produced for use, but this was such high quality it was only used for the most auspicious of occasions.

The porcelain was produced under the mentorship of the Hapsburg Royal Family at the ‘Imperial & Royal Porcelain Manufactory’ in Vienna and is the oldest hard-paste porcelain producer in Europe after Meissen in Germany. Producing between 1718 and 1864 they produced the very finest porcelain that competed with Meissen and Sevres.

Such is it’s value, that original Royal Vienna porcelain from the Habsburg period is usually only found in museums and private collections. What now passes for Royal Vienna porcelain was usually made during the 19th Century by companies around the world mimicking the brand. The porcelain uses a mark like an upside down beehive which is never symmetrical and is underglaze in blue on the original Habsburg pieces.

The vast majority and most collectible Royal Vienna porcelain products are those made from 1870 and on into the 1930s. This style of porcelain was produced by hundreds of factories and studios during this period.