China had perfected the art of porcelain manufacturing long before the West, and by the 17th century the Dutch East India Company was supplying Europe with these beautiful wares, which represented refinement, taste, culture, and social level. Meissen Porcelain Manufactory in Germany was the first company in Europe to develop hard-paste porcelain and take it to a completely different artistic level with a bold and broad use of color. Its signature company logo, the crossed swords, is one of the oldest trademarks in existence. Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH is still in business today and busy reinterpreting the art of china making. In 2012, Oregon artist Chris Antemann was invited to collaborate with Meissen porcelain makers in a new interpretation of the classic 1750 Meissen Love Temple by Joachim Kaendler, entitled “Forbidden Fruit”.
Through June 25, you can visit the incredibly magical display of Antemann and Meissen’s work in a sun room at the Crocker Museum https://www.crockerart.org/exhibitions/forbidden-fruit in Sacramento, CA. We were inspired and amused by the scenes of seduction and frivolity representing an 18th century banquet. Antemann’s whimsical figures are both naughty and charming.
