From 2014 to 2024, an international team of experts researched and catalogued the comprehensive, extant royal holdings of Augustus the Strong (1670–1733) comprising around 8000 East Asian porcelain objects. The results are published on ‘The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection’, an innovative digital platform that not only showcases the objects but also focusses on the history of the collection.
Explore the platformWhen you play our YouTube or Vimeo videos, information about your use of YouTube or Vimeo is transmitted to the US operator and may be stored. In addition, external media such as videos or fonts are loaded and stored in your browser.
When you play our YouTube or Vimeo videos, information about your use of YouTube or Vimeo is transmitted to the US operator and may be stored. In addition, external media such as videos or fonts are loaded and stored in your browser.
When you play our YouTube or Vimeo videos, information about your use of YouTube or Vimeo is transmitted to the US operator and may be stored. In addition, external media such as videos or fonts are loaded and stored in your browser.
When you play our YouTube or Vimeo videos, information about your use of YouTube or Vimeo is transmitted to the US operator and may be stored. In addition, external media such as videos or fonts are loaded and stored in your browser.
When you play our YouTube or Vimeo videos, information about your use of YouTube or Vimeo is transmitted to the US operator and may be stored. In addition, external media such as videos or fonts are loaded and stored in your browser.
When you play our YouTube or Vimeo videos, information about your use of YouTube or Vimeo is transmitted to the US operator and may be stored. In addition, external media such as videos or fonts are loaded and stored in your browser.
An innovative digital platform – The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection – has been developed to showcase the entire reference collection in combination with the extant archival material. The interconnectedness of the different materials allows not only for an explorative approach but also for an ongoing contextualisation in different, curated narratives. This novel and aesthetically ambitious presentation of the objects will inspire our professional and general readers alike.
The international art magazine Apollo presented the platform “The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection” with the Apollo Award 2024 in the category “Digital Innovation of the Year”. The prestigious prize is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding achievements in the art world.
The digital platform "The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection" has received the DigAMus audience award. The award was presented at the yearly conference of the German Museums Association and honors the best digital projects from museums in German-speaking countries.
In the early 18th century, Augustus the Strong converted the Japanese Palace in Dresden into a porcelain castle to display his opulent collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. These royal holdings are still one of the world’s largest and most important East Asian reference collections from the 17th and 18th centuries. This is because 8200 of the initially more than 29,000 East Asian ceramic objects are still extant in the Porzellansammlung today, which, in combination with the preserved archival documents, make this collection unique.
The six inventory books from 1721 and 1779 are the most important sources to consult when researching the historical collection of Augustus the Strong. These inventories not only provide insight into how the porcelain was received at the court but also offer an understanding of Augustus the Strong‘s key collecting principles. They have proved invaluable to the project and this is the first time they are published.
All the objects are marked with a ‘palace number’ that corresponds with the inventory entries. This number was either incised and blackened, or painted directly onto the porcelain body. This unique correlation between the objects and the historical documentation made it possible to identify almost 8000 porcelain pieces from the royal collection within the Porzellansammlung.
A team of more than 35 renowned international senior and junior experts from Europe, China, Japan, Taiwan and the US researched the royal porcelain holdings. The intensive collaboration was accompanied by workshops at the museum.
When you play our YouTube or Vimeo videos, information about your use of YouTube or Vimeo is transmitted to the US operator and may be stored. In addition, external media such as videos or fonts are loaded and stored in your browser.
Donate through the Foundation of Friends of the Porcelain Project Dresden
Donate through the King Baudouin Foundation (purpose "Dresden Porcelain Project", for our US friends)
Become a Member of the Friends of the Dresden Porcelain Collection
Contact us for additional information.
Albuquerque Foundation, Portugal
American Ceramic Circle (ACC)
Michele Beiny Harkins, New York
Brill Publishers, Leiden
Noor Camstra, Porcelain Restoration, Lochem
Capel & Capel Fine Arts, De Zande
Mrs. Diane Chen Koch-Weser, USA
Prof. Ching May Bo, Hong Kong
Cohen & Cohen Oriental Art, London
Ms. Elise van Ditmars, Netherlands
Mr. & Mrs. F. T. C. van Eck, Netherlands
Feng-Chun Ma Chinese & Japanese Art, Amsterdam
F. W. Hempel Familienstiftung, Düsseldorf
Galerie Nicolas Fournery, Paris
Guus Röell Fine Art & Antiques, Maastricht
Heirloom & Howard, Ltd., UK
Alex J. Heukers and Jan ‘t Hooft, Netherlands
Mr. Masao Iketani, Japan
Jorge Welsh Works of Art, London/Lisbon
Mrs. Trudel Klefisch, Cologne
Ingeborg Knauf, Germany
Mr. Lee Kuckro, USA
Klaus Leiser, Germany
Mr. & Mrs Lentz-Meijers, Netherlands
E. & H. Manners, London
Dr. Shirley Mueller, USA
Mr. Richard D. Pardue, USA
Pater Gratia Oriental Art, Haren
Polak Works of Art, Amsterdam
Robert McPherson Antiques, Joure
Röbbig, München
Mrs. Rosenfeld-Pomper, New York
Prof. Dr. Dr. Kurt und Jutta Salfeld, Germany
Mr. Schukken & Mrs. Siu Ling Koo, Netherlands
Ms. I. L. Tan, Netherlands
Ms. Yuanyuan Tan, London
Vanderven Oriental Art, Den Bosch
