How Meissen is Leading a Kitsch Revival into 2025

From the moment a young German alchemist called Johann Friedrich Böttger created white porcelain for King Augustus The Strong in 1710, Meissen’s ‘white gold’ has been at the forefront of fine European porcelain. Fast-forward more than 300 years and the revered Dresden ‘white gold’ is once again at the height of fashion and the current kitsch trend with a series of exciting collaborations.

Up until the 18^th century, the production of fine porcelain was China’s domain. For centuries, dynasties of Chinese porcelain dominated the affections of collectors, but Böttger’s creation proved to be just as precious, and European fine porcelain was born. Widely imitated, the name Meissen has become synonymous with a heritage of quality craftsmanship and design that endures today.

Over the past 300 years, Meissen porcelain has graced the tables and palaces of royal families. Sculptures, dining services, and objets d’art have all become prized around the world for their graceful lines, elaborate detailing, and bold use of color. Taking in a variety of artistic styles and themes, from animal orchestras to shepherds and shepherdesses, elegant courtiers and allegorical representations, these delicate pieces of fine porcelain are now in increasing demand as a revival in kitsch aesthetics has placed the historic Dreden-based manufacturer at the forefront of a new interior trend.

Kitsch is King

The man responsible for this design aesthetic was Johann Joachim Kändler, whose designs mirrored the courtly life of the period, and encompassed the late Baroque period through Rococo to the emerging Classicist style. This flamboyant approach was intended for German nobility and the upper echelons of society and today make the finely crafted pieces of porcelain an ideal focus of the recent kitsch revival.

Ever in demand among collectors and enthusiasts of fine porcelain, Meissen’s playful, elaborate and colorful figurines have found favor with a new audience and appeared on numerous lists of interior design trends for 2025. Among them is House & Garden magazine, which predicts a rise in the popularity of the celebrated porcelain over the coming year. “Exuberant and lively, they’re the perfect pieces to add a bit of fun to an interior,” reads the article, while an article in The Times highlights the growing kitsch trend, and Elle Décor predicts “a kind of rococo revival” that “will manifest across both fashion and home — with the latter evident particularly in ornate tablescapes.”

This resurgence in mainstream popularity isn’t isolated, as the sentimentality surrounding Meissen, together with its bright and brilliant flamboyance has also been appreciated by a number of fashion houses in a series of collaborations, most notably with Supreme and Hugo Boss.

Designed by Meissen’s in-house sculptor, Maximilian Hagstotz, the collaboration with Hugo Boss has produced a 42-piece fashion collection featuring five exclusive porcelain mugs. What might at first seem like an unusual pairing of two German icons, the collection also includes beguiling porcelain figurines of five African animals: elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion, and rhino.

Similarly, Meissen unveiled a collaboration with the streetwear brand Supreme with a reissue of an 1880 cupid figurine by sculptor Johann Pollak called Cupid with T-Shirt. The limited-edition figurine was an unlikely fusion of the urban New York-based brand with the artisanal expertise of Europe’s oldest porcelain manufactory, and sold for three times its low end estimate when it appeared at Christie’s in December 2021. The collaboration also produced a hand-painted porcelain mirror with the rapper and producer, Slick Rick at its centre.

Under the Hammer

The ascent of Meissen porcelain’s popularity in recent years has seen prices surge at auction, and in some instances have doubled pre-sale estimates. Take the Merkle Collection of 18th-century Meissen porcelain at Bonhams in April 2024, which sold for €948,450, surpassing its pre-sale high estimate of €594,800. The 55-lot sale not only highlighted the enduring allure of Meissen porcelain but also reasserted its fine craftsmanship to the art world.

Among the pieces to go under the hammer, the rare lovers with a birdcage sculpture designed by Johann Joachim Kändler in March 1741 was a particular highlight – and it quadrupled its low end estimate to sell for €171,850. Kändler would become one of Meisen’s most revered and respected sculptors during his 40 years with the manufacturer until his death in 1775.

A rare Meissen group of Pantalone and Columbine, circa 1738. Sold for £65,000 via Bonhams (April 2024)

The incredible collection also included a rare Meissen crinoline figure of a lady modelled by Kändler in around 1737 that achieved six times its estimate to sell for €127,400, while a figurine of Pantalone and Columbine from around 1738 sold for €82,950, doubling its low-end estimate. A similar figurine sold for $48,000 five years earlier at Sotheby’s, New York.

The first part of the large collection also included a masonic crinoline group of lovers from 1745 (the lead image in this article) that sold for €75,330, while a large Meissen vase painted in the Kakiemon style from 1730 sold for €61,360, doubling its estimate of €20,000-30,000. The final auction of the Merkle Collection will take place at Bonhams, Paris in the spring of 2025.

Accessible Meissen

With over 300 years of designs to choose from, ranging from Meissen’s flamboyant Rococo style pieces to its popular Neoclassical approach means that there’s a wealth of choice when it comes to starting a collection. And while some of the rarer sculptures and designs by the likes of Kändler can attract prices with numerous zeros, entry level pieces are readily available and readily affordable, even in the Merkle Collection.

This year has already welcomed a number of bargains, with this early 20th century Meissen figure of a woman selling for just $225 at Cottone Auctions in New York in February, while a rare figure from the 19^th century dubbed ‘Chocolate Girl’ sold for the relative bargain price of $3,250 from the same auction house. Designed after the famous pastel with chocolate girl by Jean-Etienne Liotard from 1743/45, found in the Old Masters Gallery in Dresden, both pieces featured the authentic Meisen crossed swords mark on their base. Even the record-breaking Merkle Collection produced accessible sales, such as the figure of a Hungarian, circa 1750, which sold for £2,800.

Alternatively, your table setting can achieve a heritage appeal with a bargain price that often belies the heritage of the pieces. This lot of six Meissen porcelain cups and saucers sold for $225 just at World Auction Gallery in February, while a 40 piece set of Meissen porcelain in blue onion pattern went under the hammer for the bargain price of $350 at Clements, TN, in the same month.

Such is the choice that deciding where to begin a collection of Meissen porcelain could be a little overwhelming. So, to help smooth out the decision-making process, why not visit one of the many museums across the country carry collections of Meissen porcelain?

In New York, The Met’s collection includes figurines, dinnerware, and decorative pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as notable pieces designed by Johann Joachim Kändler, while The Frick Collection is known for its refined tableware and finely detailed porcelain miniatures from the Baroque and Rococo periods.

The Art Institute of Chicago houses Meissen figurines, vases, and tableware from the 18th and 19th centuries, while The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston also has a strong collection of Meissen tea sets, plates, and sculptures, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore houses Meissen figurines and porcelain from the 18th century, and The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, has a collection of Meissen tableware and sculptures, particularly from the Rococo period.

Thanks to Meissen’s diverse and creative range of porcelain, from Rococo to Neoclassicism, and knowing modern kitsch, it remains an excellent choice for collectors, as well as a sought-after investment that can often appreciate in value. Boasting a rich artistic heritage that dates back to 1710, Meissen set the standard for luxury porcelain in the Western world and its combination of historical significance, exceptional craftsmanship, and enduring value means that it continues to have an enduring appeal.