‘Large’ rare Böttger stoneware pagoda

‘Pagodas in red stoneware are among the greatest rarities’ (Rückert 1966 p. 161). This statement by Rückert is supported by the records and the surviving Meissen inventories, which show only a few examples. It is striking that the early stoneware pagodas are exclusively the so-called ‘large pagodas’ (4 1/4 Saxon inches = 10 cm), while the ‘small’ ones (4 inches = 8.4 cm) are completely missing and only appear in the inventories of white Böttger porcelain (Boltz 167/168 2000 p. 65 no. 25).

The pagodas in Böttger stoneware are among the earliest figures of the Meissen manufactory. Their date of origin is well determined. The starting point is the factory inventory of the moulds of the Böttger stoneware in 1711 of the Meissen production plant published by Claus Boltz in 1982 (KFS 96/1982 pp. 7-40). It is dated 3 August 1711 and contains all the moulds available at the time and the products made from them. The pagoda is missing in this list. It cannot therefore have been made before August 1711. In contrast, stoneware production in Meissen ended at the beginning of 1713, after Böttger had finally succeeded in producing white porcelain. This very quickly replaced the stoneware products and their demand.

We can therefore date the pagoda to 1712. It also fits in with this that its modeller, Johann J. Kretzschmar (Pietsch 2010 no. 13), returned to Dresden in 1712 on Permoser's behalf to help him with the construction of the Zwinger (Rückert 1966 p. 83).