Vase Castle Pillnitz

The vase was originally developed by the architect Gottfried Semper (1803 - 1879). In 1836, he designed this magnificent vase, which was to be a technical challenge. Its considerable size made it extremely difficult to fire, but the feat was achieved and the spectacular masterpiece was presented at the London World's Fair in 1851.

As it lies there, the mountain and water palace of Augustus the Strong, surrounded by blooming flowerbeds, with a water lily pond in the foreground, on whose smooth surface the palace is reflected, one can imagine how the Elector strolled through the magnificent pleasure garden on many a summer's day. Built at the end of the 17th century as a palace church, Augustus had the palace on the banks of the Elbe near Dresden demolished around 1720 and rebuilt and extended in the Baroque style.

The roofs of the palace are decorated with "chinoiseries", a style of European art based on Chinese or other East Asian models. The Chinese fashion was particularly popular in Europe in the late 17th and 18th centuries, and so began the history of the Meissen porcelain manufactory with detailed reproductions of the East Asian forms and decorations so revered by Augustus the Strong.