abstract
| - Starting in the 1600s, Europeans were fascinated by the blue and white and white porcelain exported from China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but Danes had to discover for themselves how to produce these "white gold" (white glaze) that they found so irresistible about porcelain. The Royal Copenhagen manufactory, whose 1775 operations began in a converted post office, was founded by chemist, Frantz Heinrich Müller, who was given a 50-year monopoly to create porcelain. The first pieces manufactured were dining services for the royal family. When, in 1779, King Christian VII assumed financial responsibility, the manufactory was styled the Royal Porcelain Factory. In 1790, Royal Copenhagen brought out its now famous Flora Danica ‘Blue Fluted’ dinner service, with gilded edge and Danish flora motifs, and Royal Copenhagen held a monopoly on the "Blue Fluted" name. By 1851, Royal Copenhagen qualified for the World Expo in London. In 1868, as a result of royal companies' privatization, the Royal Porcelain Factory came into private hands. It was purchased by the faience factory Aluminia in 1882. Shortly after Aluminia's acquisition, Royal Copenhagen production was moved to a modern factory building at Aluminia’s site in Frederiksberg, on the outskirts of Copenhagen. By 1889, Royal Copenhagen qualified for the World Expo in Paris, winning the Grand Prix, giving it international exposure.
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