Isabel Wagner
Abstract
The Bavarian National Museum (BNM) houses a finely crafted ceramic figurative representation of a parforce hunt, which originally came from the Munich Residence. Its maker is uncertain, but an art historian’s thesis suggests that it may be one of the first products from the renowned Nymphenburg porcelain manufacture – before it could successfully produce porcelain. Without losing sight of this perspective, this talk presents a summary of the technical analysis of the fascinating piece. The ensemble served as the centerpiece of a dessert table and dates to around 1750. It comprises 49 figures, including dogs, horses, a stag, and a carriage. Parforce hunts were an elaborate form of aristocratic hunting in which a deer was chased to exhaustion by a pack of dogs and killed by the most distinguished member of the hunting party. These hunts were primarily social events that demonstrated the prince’s power. Depicting a parforce hunt as a table decoration reflects its popularity and significance in 18th-century Europe. Table decorations were an important part of ceremonial dessert tables. They were formed from sugar paste in the court confectionery and sometimes painted before being assembled on the table. However, sugar paste did not keep well, so porcelain – reinvented in Europe at the beginning of the 18th century – was a welcome, more durable addition to dessert table decorations. The production of hard-paste porcelain was a closely guarded secret in the mid-18th century. Consequently, products of local porcelain manufactures showcased a territory’s technical achievements and capabilities. In 1747, Bavarian Elector Max III Joseph founded a porcelain factory in Neudeck Castle near Munich, which was moved to Nymphenburg Castle in 1761. Initially, staff from the successfully working manufacture in Vienna was employed. However, it took almost seven years, until the porcelain manufacture succeeded in producing porcelain. The Viennese staff was paid until 1750 and conducted numerous test firings; however, no products from this period are known.
To better understand the manufacturing techniques and materials used for this object, an art-technical examination of the parforce figures was carried out using microscopy, CT scanning, SEM-EDX analysis, and p-XRF analysis. The results show that the piece was made of glazed ceramic with an internal metal support structure, as well as metal and leather applications. The pieces were elaborately painted and further decorated with calcite crystals and metal flakes sprinkled on the surface. Examination revealed that it came from the same workshop as the figural depiction of a salt ship train, presented at the 2024 AIC Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. This object is also part of the BNM collection, and, like the parforce hunt, a motif worthy of a Bavarian prince. These results can serve as a basis for identifying similar objects in the future, thus enabling the attribution to Nymphenburg to be verified or refuted.