The variety of motifs span the manufactory’s various famed painting styles. Naturalistic portrayals of birds revive and add to the type of naturalistic bird painting, which has been part of Meissen’s artistic range since the 19th century. Be that a magnificently plumed blue parrot or a duo of flamboyant flamingos arching their necks to form the shape of a heart, both based on motifs from the archives. Elsewhere, artfully realised hand-printed décors playfully combine ornate ornithological depictions with more graphic design details – from abstract shapes to a cool camouflage pattern. Styles such as chinoiserie and engraving are also revived, while further hand-printed décors realise linear as well as colourful designs of a number of bird species. Whether an adorable penguin pair, inquisitive owls or the ever-regal swan – a bird already long intertwined within the manufactory’s rich history.

As can be said for the entirety of The MEISSEN Birds Collection, this second instalment of the MEISSEN Mug Collection, with its 19 new designs, is equal parts novelty – new products, new décors and new ways of applying them to tableware favourites – and tribute. A tribute to both ornithological study and the manufactory’s own longstanding exploration thereof.