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In 1774, after many years of practice and experimentation in the creation of porcelain, chemist Frantz Heinrich Muller decided to look for investors for the small Danish porcelain factory he wanted to put up. The Dowager Queen and her son became two of his major partners in what is now known as Royal Copenhagen, the porcelain company known for its distinguishable royal Copenhagen figurines. The company was formally established in 1775, and has been making excellent porcelain ever since.
Each piece created by Royal Copenhagen is handmade and then hand painted using the fine hairs of cow’s ears or reindeer’s stomachs. The company is best known for its classic blue and white porcelain, the most famous design being the fluted pattern which was the very first pattern to be produced and has continued to be produced to this day. The pattern began as a design for dessert plates, but in 1888, production of a full dinnerware set using this pattern began.
Apart from dinnerware, the company is also known for its decorative porcelain. When the company passed to private hands in 1868, it began slowly cultivating the creation of other porcelain pieces. By 1885, the production of figurines which were underglazed began; an idea thought of by artist Arnold Krog. Exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris, the underglazed technique applied to porcelain pieces made the company famous, and built new and growing popularity for the pieces worldwide.
The symbol for royal Copenhagen figurines is three wavy lines. These lines are said to represent the three waters separating Denmark, which are the Sound, the Great Belt, and the Cattegat. Sometimes, you will also find the mark of the crown with the words “Royal Copenhagen” encircling it or a crown with the name “Denmark” beneath it. These are also marks of the company. The marks varied as the years passed, but before the 1900s, the most common mark was the three wavy lines.
Today, Royal Copenhagen continues to make excellent quality handmade porcelain, with new plain white figurines being part of their latest collections. However, many collectors are more interested in the underglazed figurines. Some collectors even buy “seconds”, which are figures that did not pass the company standards. Often, the reason is a color variation, which happens in the underglazing process. Though it isn’t an official figurine, and you can tell by the fact that there is a scratch going through the three wavy lines; each “second” is quite unique as it is one of a kind, but then again, all royal Copenhagen figurines are.
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