Recommended Books

Hello fellow porcelain collectors,

I have finally gotten around to working on this section of my website. About time - I know! But there are a few more important things than porcelain like my family and since the weather has been so nice - well the computer was not on top of my list of where I wanted to spend my time :) People have been looking at this page quite a bit and since the demand was so large I figured I better get to it. About reference books - it is a bit difficult to really pic the perfect ones it is more something you will have to figure out for yourselves since it depends heavily on what exactly you are interested in. Having said that I will add quite a few books I like or fellow collectors I talk to often like. An issue for many will be the languages. Generally speaking the books in the native language of wherever the porcelain was made it is written about is the best book but many were translated and other books have so many pictures that they are fine as well! I will just list many books I like and you'll have to pick out what you think is useful to you. Also the price are often an issue as a rare book will set you back a few hundred Dollars but it is usually money well spent over the life of you collecting! Since I often like the input of all you collectors out there jsut shoot me a note if you think you have a book that should make it into this page! If you ahve any further questions on any books or anything else jsut send me an email as always! And if you're wondering where I put all these books - I build a library in the front of the house for them and am still running out of room. A friend of mine told me a long time ago that often someones reference book colelction is almost worth as much as their collection themselves by the time they are done. Maybe not quite true but it is a lot of books! I tried to sort it alphabetically by country and then again within the country for some sort of sanity :)

General Books:

1) Porcelain of the Nineteenth Century, Antoinette Fay-Halle, Barbara Mundt, Rizzoli, New York, 1983

American Porcelain: This is a decent book but there are a few others as well.

1) American Porcelain 1770-1920, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., NY, 1989

Austrian Porcelain:

Vienna:

1) Wiener Porzellan, Waltaud Neuwirth, Selbstverlag 1990

2) Du Paquier - Fired by Passion, Barockes Wiener Porzellan der Manufaktur Claudius Innocentius du Paquier, 3 Baende, Arnoldsche 2009

3) Wiener Porzellan 1718-1864, Wilhelm Mrazek, Waltraud Neuwirth, Oesterreichischer Bundesverlag, 1970

Danish Porcelain: Not the best book and as the curator of the Museum in Copenhagen tells me there apparentsly aren't any in a language other than Danish which I do not understand at all - the language that is.

1) Royal Copenhagen, H.V.F. Winstone, Stacey International, London, 1984

Italian Porcelain: - The best books here are in Italian and it's not my best language. Many have lots of good pictures though!

1) Il Museo Delle Porcellane Di Doccia, Societa Ceramica Italiana Richard-Ginori, 1967

2) La Porcellana Di Doccia, Leonardo Ginori Lisci, Cassa Di Risparmio Di Firenze, 1963

3) Le Porcellane Die Vinovo, Industria Grafica Osvaldo Falciola, Torino, 1963

4) Porcellane Die Capodimonte, La Real Fabbrica die Carlo di Borbone 1743-1759, Electa Napoli, 1993

5) La Porcellana dei Medici, Fabbri Editori, Galeazzo Cora, Angiolo Fanfani, 1986

English Porcelain: English procelain is very compliacted since much of it is unmarked. I am really just starting to really get into it and the more books you have the better! It seems that most books by Geoffrey Godden are very good!

General books:

1) Godden’s Guide to English Porcelain

2) Eighteenth Century English Porcelain: A Selection from the Godden Reference Collection

3) An Anthology of British Teapots, Miller & Berthoud

4) An Anthology of British Cups, Miller & Berthoud

5) An Anthology of British Creamers, Miller & Berthoud

6) The Price Guide to 18th Century English Porcelain, Simon Spero

7) 18th Century English Porcelain Figures,  Peter Bradshaw

8) English Pottery and Porcelain, George Savage, Universe Books Publishers, New York, 1961

Bow:

1) Bow Porcelain Figures 1748 - 1774, Peter Bradshaw, Barrie and Jenkins 1992

2) Bow Porcelain, Adams and Redstone

3) Bow Porcelain, Frank Hurlbutt, G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. 1926 (An oldie but I like it!)

Chelsea:

1) Chelsea Porcelain at Williamsburg, John Austin

Coalport and Coalbrookdale:

1) An Illustrated Encyclopedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Coalport and Coalbrookdale Porcelains by Geoffrey Godden

Derby:

1) Derby Porcelain 1748-1848 An Illustrated Guide, John Twitchett

2) Derby Porcelain, F. Brayshaw Gilhespy, Spring Books, London, 1965

Liverpool:

1) Liverpool Porcelain, Knowles Boney (somewhat out of date)

2) The Liverpool Porcelain of William Reid, Maurice Hillis, Roderick Jellicoe, London Sealprint Ltd, 2000

Lowestoft:

1) Lowestoft Porcelain (2 vol), Sheenah Smith

Minton:

1) The Dictionary of Minton, Paul Atterbury and Maureen Batkin, Antique Collectors' Club, 1998

Ridgways:

1) Ridgway Porcelains by Geoffrey Godden

Staffordshire:

1) William Greatbatch, A Staffordshire Potter, David Barker

Wedgwood:

1) Wedgwood, The New Illustrated Dictionary, Robin Reilly, Antique Collectors' Club, 1995

2) Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre - The Work of Daisy Makeig-Jones, Una des Fontaines, Born-Hawes, New York, 1975

Worcester:

1) Chamberlain’s Worcester by Geoffrey Godden

2) Worcester Porcelain and Lund’s Bristol, Franklin Barrett

French Porcelain:

General Books:

1) Les Porcelainiers du XVIII Siecle Francais, Hachette, 1964

Boissettes:

1) Faience et Porcelain de Boissettes, Elisabeth Meyer, Les edition de l'Amateur 1994, franzoesisch

Samson:

1) Samson, Genie de l'Imitation, Florence Slitine, Edition Charles Massin 2002 , franzoesisch

Sevres / Vincennes:

1) Vincennes and Sevres Porcelain, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Adrian Sassoon, 1991

2) Sevres Porcelain 1740-1800, Svend Eriksen & Geoffrey De Bellaigue, Faber and Faber, London, 1987

St.Cloud:

1) Discovering the Secrets of Soft-Paste Porcelain at the Saint-Cloud Manufactory ca. 1690-1766, Bertrand Rondot, 1999

German porcelain: Many of them are obviously in German since that is my native language and no issue for me. If you need help with something you are as always welcome to ask me within reason. A lot of these books have tons of pictures in them and the written part is not as important for them to be useful!

Ansbach:

1) Ansbacher Porzellan, Adolf Bayer, Klinkhardt und Biermann 1932/1959

Frankenthal: A very hard to find maker much more so than any of the other top ones mostly it seems because the people just hate parting with their pieces - a thing we can all udnerstand!

1) Frankenthaler Porzellan, die Plastik, Band 1, weitere folgen, Barbara Beaucamp.Markowsky, Hirmer Verlag 2008

2) Die Kunst Porcelain Zu Machen, Frankenthaler Porzellan 1755-1800, Edgar J. Huerkey, Erkenbert-Museum, 2005

3) Porzellan aus Strassburg und Frankenthal im 18. Jahrhundert, Emil Heuser, 1922 (Nachdruck erhaeltlich, Pfaelzische Verlagsanstalt 1988)

Fuerstenberg: I grew up minutes from here so it has a special place in my porcelain collection!

1) Weisses Gold aus Fuerstenberg, Katalog zur Ausstellung in Muenster und Braunschweig 1989, Limbach Braunschweig 1989

2) Die Porzellanmanufaktur Fuerstenberg, Beatrix Freifrau von Wolff Metternich, 2 Baende, Prestel ca 2008

Fulda:

1) Hochfuerstlich Fuldische Porzellainmanufaktur 1764 - 1789, Christoph Fritsche,Gregor Karl Stasch, Verlag Porzeller 1994

Höchst: My dad's favorite maker of them all!

1) Das Hoechster Porzellan auf der Jahrtausendausstellung in Mainz 1925, Roeder, Oppenheim, 1930, L.Wilckens, Mainz

2) Hoechster Porzellan 1746 - 1796, Patricia Stahl 1994, Edition Braus

Kassel:

1) Die Landgraefliche Porzellanmanufaktur Kassel, Siegfried Ducret, Klinhardt und Biermann, 1960

2) Kasseler Porzellan, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Kassel, Marlies Wienert, Thiele und Schwarz, 1980

Kelsterbach:

1) Kelsterbacher Porzellan, Alexa-Beatrice Christ, Arnoldsche 2004

KPM: Their dishes are better than Meissen I think.

1) Berliner Porzellan, Erich Koellman, Margarethe Jarchow, 2 Baende, Klinkhardt und Biermann 1987

2) Berliner Porzellan aus Privatbesitz, Hildegard Westhoff-Krummacher, 1991

3) Berliner Porzellan vom Jugendstil zum Funktionalismus 1889-1939, Broehan Museum

Ludwigsburg: A top maker that seems to be more common than Frankenthal or Hoechst and happens to be another favorite of mine :) Do you see a pttern here? Mmm I seem to have a lot of favorites :)

1) Ludwigsburger Porzellan, Hans-Dieter Flach, Arnoldsche 1997

This is one of the most complete books ever on any maker and there really is little need for other books even though there are many more out there plus the author is a super nice guy!

Meissen:

1) Meissen Porcelain, Otto Walcha, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1981

2) The Wark Colelction - Early Meissen Porcelain, The Cummer Gallery Of Art, 1984

3) Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection, Hans Syz, J. Jefferson Miller II, Rainer Rueckert, Smithsonian Institution press, 1979

4) Edles Meissner Porzellan aus 3 Jahrhunderten, Kurt Krockenberger, Winnender Druck, 2002

5) Meissen, Collector's Catalogue, Laurence Mitchell, Antique Collectors' Club, 2004 (this is a reprint of a very rare and old salesman catalogue which I also own)

6) Meissener Porzellan 1710-1810, Austellung im Bayerischen Nationalmuseum Muenchen, Rainer Rueckert, Hirmer Verlag Muenchen, 1966 (an old book that in terms of pictures isn't that great but it has a lot of info in it and is still used a whole lot more than most other books!)

Nymphenburg: They made the best animal figurines in the early 20th century!

1) Nymphenburger Porzellan, Die Sammlung Baeuml, Alfred Ziffer, Arnoldsche 1997

2) Die Tierplastik der Nymphenburger Porzellan Manufaktur 1905-1920, Gerhard P. Woeckel, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum Muenchen, Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1978

Ottweiler:

1) Ottweiler Porzellan, Christoph Trepesch, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft 2000

Rosenthal:

1) Rosenthal Porzellan, Dieter Struss, Battenberg 1995

2) Rosenthal Porcelain Figurines, Ann Banduhn , Coquette Breeze, LLC.

Schrezheim/Ellwangen:

1) Porzellan aus Ellwangen und Schrezheim, Wolfgang Rothmaier, Eberhard Veit, Roesler Druch Schorndorf 2008

Schwarzburger Werkstaetten fuer Porzellankunst:

1) Schwarzburger Werkstaetten fuer Porzellankunst, Susanne Wallner, Ursula Koch, Alfred Koch, Helmut Scherf, Museum der Deutschen Porzellanindustrie, 1993

Thuringia: Some very nice porcelain that is not as sophisticated as Meissen but has a charm of its own and some of these makers are amoung my favorites!

1) Altthueringer Porzellan, Graul, Kurzwelly 1909, (Nachdruck erhaeltlich, Scherer 1991)

2) Thueringer Porzellan, Scherf, Karpinski, Prisma Verlag 1985

3) Gothaer Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts, Ute Daeberitz, Kunstverlag Gotha, 1995

These first two are general books on all the makers of the area. I have books on all the individual ones as well but to list them all here will get out of hand - so if you need help just send me an email!

Trier:

1) Fuer Buerger und Fremde die auf Eleganz halten, Trierer Porzellan, Elisabeth Duehr, Selbstverlag der Staedtischen Museums Trier 2000

Wegely: A very rare maker so having the book is probably not too important for most of us.

1) Berliner Porzellan der Manufaktur von Wilhelm Caspar Wegely 1751 - 1757,Gisela Zick,  Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 1978

Wuerzburg:

1) Wuerzburger Porzellan, Ausstellung im  mainfraekischen Museum in Wuerzburg, Hans-Peter Trenschel, Fraenkische Gesellschaftsdruckerei und Verlag 1986

Zweibruecken:

1) Zweibruecker Porzellan 1767 - 1775, Elisabeth Kessler-Slotta, Saarbruecker Druckerei und Verlag 1989

Hungarian:

1) Herend - The Art of Hungarian Porcelain, Gyoezoe Sikota, Pueski Publishing, New York, 1989

Russian Porcelain:

1) Das weisse Gold der Zaren, die Kaiserliche Porzellanmanufaktur St. Petersburg, Tamara Kudrjawzewa, Arnoldsche 2001

2) Russisches Porzellan aus privaten Manufakturen, W.A. Popow, VEB E.A. Seemann Verlag, Leipzig, 1984

3) Russian Porcelain in the Hermitage Colelction, L. Nikiforova, Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad, 1973

4) Russisches und Sowjetisches Porzellan aus dem Umbruch, 1895-1935, Irmela Franzke, Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, Edition Braus, 1992

Swiss Porcelain:

Zürich:

1) Zuericher Porzellanmanufaktur 1763 - 1790, 2 Baende Franz Boesch, Offizin Verlag Zuerich