Meissen porcelain.(Current and coming)(porcelain collections at the Frick Collection, New York City)

The rich collection of early Meissen porcelain assembled by Henry Arnhold and his parents, Heinrich and Lisa Arnhold, is well known to ceramics specialists as one of the greatest private holdings of this material formed in the twentieth century. A selection of some one hundred objects is now on view at the Frick Collection in New York City in the first major public exhibition of this important collection. The Arnholds focused their attention on works dating from the founding of the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen in 1710 to about 1750, an exciting time of experimentation not only with the formula for porcelain but also with shapes and decoration. Examples from this period are particularly rare and have always been highly sought after by collectors.

Heinrich and Lisa Arnhold married in 1914 in Dresden and became deeply involved in the cultural and intellectual life of the city. They formed a significant collection of German expressionist paintings and sculpture, and eventually acquired more than five hundred works on paper. Their interest in collecting porcelain probably stemmed from Heinrich's role as the scion of a powerful banking family; he served on the boards of thirteen porcelain and ceramics firms with which his bank was affiliated. It was not long before he and his wife ...