Evolution of a Royal Vision: The Birth of Meissen Porcelain Exhibition at San Francisco International Airport Celebrates the 300th Anniversary of the Meissen Porcelain Factory

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Evolution of a Royal Vision: The Birth of Meissen Porcelain
Exhibition at San Francisco International Airport Celebrates the 300th Anniversary of the Meissen Porcelain Factory

SAN FRANCISCO —  Evolution of a Royal Vision: The Birth of Meissen Porcelain, on view at San Francisco International Airport from April 2 through September 13, 2010, features a magnificent collection of more than one hundred pieces of eighteenth-century Meissen porcelain and includes many Chinese and Japanese ceramics from the collection of Augustus the Strong, which served as an inspiration for Meissen factory production. The exhibition traces the history of early European hard-paste porcelain development, design, and innovation, and coincides with the 300 ^th anniversary of the Meissen Porcelain Factory, the first establishment to produce porcelain in all of Europe.

Of special interest in the exhibition is an exceptionally large baluster vase, one of Meissen’s greatest masterpieces, comparable to the best blue-and-white wares of the Yuan and early Ming dynasties (1279-1644). Another one of Meissen’s most iconic pieces, an exquisite gilded eagle-spout teapot is also on display. Additionally on view is a tea bowl with figures from New Amsterdam (New York) in the 1600s, probably representing the earliest depiction of Americans on European porcelain. The exhibition also features pieces from the Swan Service, the most famous dinnerware ever produced at Meissen. Images from the collection are available at: http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/about/news/pressres/exh-meissen.html. 

Evolution of a Royal Vision: The Birth of Meissen Porcelain will be located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall, Departures Level. There is no charge to view the exhibition.

In conjunction with this exhibition, a lecture by Collector Malcolm Gutter, Reinventing Porcelain: Celebrating the Meissen Manufactory’s Tercentennial,will be held on Sunday, April 11 2010 at 1:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library & Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum located in the International Terminal Main Hall, Departures Level. This illustrated lecture will trace the development of Europe’s oldest porcelain manufactory during its Golden Age and will examine the early history of the manufactory, touching on its social, economic, political, and cultural background. 

Malcolm D. Gutter, emeritus professor of economics and decorative arts at Foothill College and the University of California Berkeley Extension, is an authority on Meissen porcelain. He has collected the wares for thirty years. Many of his pieces have been displayed in exhibitions at the Asian Art Museum and the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco as well as the Bard Graduate Center in New York.

Admission to the lecture is free. Please contact Ramekon O’Arwisters for additional information at (650) 821-6794 or Ramekon.O'Arwisters@flysfo.com.

All objects in the exhibition are from the collection of Malcolm D. Gutter.

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