Dresden Porcelain (1872-2020)
Carl-Johann Gottlob Thieme (1823-1888) was a freelance porcelain decorator known as a Hausmaler. In 1864, he established his own porcelain studio and antique shop in central Dresden. As his business expanded, Thieme sought to produce his own porcelain and, in 1872, set up a factory in the village of Potschappel near Dresden. This Gründerzeit-era factory, now a protected heritage site, initially produced white porcelain, which was sold to freelance decorators in Dresden and across Europe. Both locally made and purchased porcelain was painted and sold from the factory.
Carl August Kuntzsch, Thieme’s son-in-law and a talented flower modeller, was instrumental in the factory’s success. He developed the “lush flower covering” style, which became Dresden porcelain’s hallmark. After Thieme’s death, Kuntzsch took over the business, and by 1912, its financial success led to an expansion of the production facilities. However, the two World Wars and economic crises severely impacted the business, and the workforce dwindled from 300 employees in 1914 to fewer than 70 by 1932.
After World War II, Dresden fell under Soviet control, and in 1951, the Kuntzsch family was forced out of the company. Although the family had no ties to the Nazi regime, Emil Kuntzsch fled to West Germany, accused of economic crimes by East German authorities. The company gradually became state-controlled, and in 1972, it was fully nationalised under the name “VEB Sächsische Porzellan-Manufaktur Dresden, Headquarters Freital.” During the 1970s, legal action against counterfeiters helped revive Dresden porcelain’s popularity, and by the late 1980s, the factory employed around 180 workers.
After German reunification, the global porcelain market experienced significant changes. The factory became the property of the Treuhand, the agency responsible for privatising former East German state assets. In 1991, it was sold to a French investment group, but after their bankruptcy, the Dresden IPV group, led by art patron Jürgen Wegener, acquired the factory in 1993. Following another bankruptcy, the company was bought by Gunther Seifert and Klaus-Peter Arnold in 1998 through a management buyout.
By 2002, the Saxon Porcelain Manufactory had just 19 employees and faced financial difficulties once again. Geschwister Hillebrand GmbH purchased the company in 2005 but ended its involvement in 2008. Since then, the Russian entrepreneur Armenak S. Agababyan has been the sole owner. In 2010, the factory employed 20 people and produced around 200 pieces annually. However, operations were temporarily halted between March and October 2013, and long-time managing director Gunther Seifert departed.
The street in front of the factory, expanded during the construction of the Freital bypass in 2002, was named “Carl-Thieme-Straße” in honour of the factory’s founder.
Dresden Company Marks
The factory has used a wide variety of marks and stamps over the years, reflecting not only the impact of wars but also the devastating 1957 flood of the Wiederitz, which destroyed the company’s archives stored in the basement. As a result, many of the original records are incomplete.
Floor Marks
From 1902 to 1926, the factory registered 32 different marks, 8 of which were specific to the German market. Typically, these marks were applied in blue under the glaze, though some were overglaze marks in blue, iron red, or gold. The earliest known mark was a “T” above a fish symbol. Since 1901, the crossed “S” and “P” have been used, and on August 21, 1902, the intertwined “S” and “P” above the word “Dresden” was registered as a trademark.
Embossed Marks
Large or awkwardly shaped pieces were often stamped with embossed marks on the exterior. Some items from the first half of the 20th century also bear the community mark—a stylized Kurhut—shared by the Dresden porcelain painters Klemm, Donath, and Hamann. Occasionally, letters and numbers were also embossed to indicate specific moulds or batches.
The use of mould numbers was inconsistent, and no clear rules were established for applying for these numbers. Older pieces feature these numbers in italics, while regular stamping of mould numbers only became standard practice after 1950. A letter (sometimes two) following the mould number denotes the “bossier” or mould-maker. A list of these abbreviations, maintained by the raw operations manager, documents the names of the artisans. Between 1984 and 1997, an alphabetical system was used to indicate the year of production. “A” represented 1984, “B” stood for 1985, and so on. In 1992, the sequence skipped from “H” to “K” and continued through to “P” for 1997.
Painter’s Marks
Numbers written in overglaze colours often appear below the factory mark, representing the painters who worked on the piece. These numbers are recorded in lists maintained by the painting manager. In rare cases, painters were allowed to sign their work directly on the piece.