It was a passion for experimentation that brought the two Meissen artists Horst Gottschaldt (born 1949) and Detlef Ritter (born 1961) together. Their tenacity, love of the material and belief in each other have now helped them create new crystal worlds for the Manufactory. The upshot: a sensational symbiosis of technical crystalline glazes and meticulously executed porcelain painting whose captivating effects materialised following months of testing in the laboratory. Only very few craftspeople are equipped for such a demanding challenge, one that is frequently beset by failure. The artist Horst Gottschaldt used porcelain plaques as a working surface to which he applied pasty mixtures of various porcelain ingredients, mineralogical oxides and carbonates. The ingredients are mixed to differing formulae as a function of the colour it is hoped to create. With the shape, size and variety of the crystals formed being wholly unpredictable, the outcome of a lengthy period of dedicated firing at up to approx. 1,300°C is only known once the kiln door is opened. In the present case, the crystals have turned out to be of a very large, unique kind, yielding an amorphous visual design with no set order or structure.