Fired by Passion: Masterpieces of Du Paquier Porcelain

Fired by Passion will present about fifty tureens, drinking vessels, platters, and other objects produced by Du Paquier between 1720 to 1740, which were coveted by aristocrats in Vienna and throughout Europe. In addition to exploring the rivalry between the Du Paquier and Meissen manufactories, the exhibition will highlight the eclectic mix of references — many of them East Asian — that inspired Du Paquier porcelain. Splendid examples with coats of arms and heraldic symbols from commissions across Europe will also illustrate the manufactory’s success and influence beyond Vienna.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.

Whether or not you go, Fired by Passion-: Vienna Baroque Porcelain of Claudius Innocentius Du Pacquier is the first comprehensive publication on this important porcelain factory, made possible through a five-year research programme conducted by the Melinda and Paul Sullivan Foundation for the Decorative Arts. In three volumes with a CD-ROM. 

The first volume deals with the historical and stylistic background of Du Paquier porcelain: art and architecture in early eighteenth-century Baroque Vienna; furthermore, the history of the porcelain factory, its style and its manifold sources of inspiration as well as Du Paquier's relationship to Meissen and the role played at Du Paquier by independent porcelain painters and decorators. The second volume places this Viennese porcelain in its cultural context, providing broad-ranging information on court banquet ceremony as well as private pleasures such as drinking and festive dining. Objects used in aristocratic circles are shown along with choice presents of state made to the Ottoman and Russian courts. In addition, this volume contains a new study on the Dubsky Room, the only room still in existence devoted to Du Paquier porcelain. The contents of the third volume include an annotated catalogue comprising approximately 500 objects, scholarly analysis and a chapter on the history of collecting Du Paquier porcelain, an inventory of the Dubsky Room, a bilingual glossary of terms and a complete bibliography. An enclosed CD-ROM contains transcriptions of original documents that have played an important role in the history of the Du Paquier porcelain factory.

Fired by Passion-: Vienna Baroque Porcelain of Claudius Innocentius Du Pacquier