Standing Cup and Cover

Johann Friedrich Böttger, the first European to make hard-paste porcelain, developed red stoneware at the Meissen porcelain manufactory in 1708. One of the hardest ceramic materials ever produced, stoneware could be polished and engraved on a wheel. This vessel's form and smooth surface imitate the lidded cups of hardstone or carved ivory that Europeans admired and collected in the 1700s.