Collecting Royal Vienna porcelain and Vienna portrait plates and wall plaques.

Royal Vienna Porcelain History.
Tips on buying royal vienna porcelain
Royal Vienna shield or beehive marks
Vienna beehive mark imitators

His attempts were unsuccessful until 1718, when he secured the services of the arcanist Samuel Stölzel, a previous employee of the meissen porcelain factory.

During its first years, the Vienna factory had a very hard time due to enormous economic problems, and some of its most valued employees left the factory. In 1720, Samuel Stölzel returned to meissen, and took Johann Gregor Höroldt with him. In the same year, Christoph Conrad Hunger left for Venice, where he founded another european porcelain factory.

The 1718-1744 period is called the 'Du Paquier period', or 'Vienna before the mark'.

Up to 1730, they produced chinoiserie, following the meissen trend. Some of the pieces were marked with a stylised chinese imperial mark.

From 1731 production was changed to objects in Viennese baroque style and still unmarked. However, Du Paquier still had major financial problems and was forced to sell the factory in 1744 to the austrian empress Maria Theresia, this began the "State period" and the shield mark (Bindenschild), the arms of the Austrian court, was introduced.

From 1744 to 1749 the shield mark was applied in red or in blue underglaze, or incised.
From 1749 to 1827 the mark was applied in a blue underglaze.
From 1827 to 1850 the blind-stamped shield mark was re-introduced.

A break occured during the state period (1744-1784) around 1760. Before then the factory produced rococo style wares. After 1760, there was a move towards the neo-classical in the Sèvres style. Sevres being one of the leading porcelain factories in europe, at that time.

Between 1750 and 1780, the best pieces destined for the austrian court were distinguised by a special shield mark in underglaze blue. Seconds were marked with either a red or green 'A' over the underglaze blue mark or by two intersecting nicks over the mark.

In 1784 after a downturn in sales the factory was put up for sale, but a buyer could not be found and the directorship was transferred to Konrad von Sorgenthal, a textile manufacturer from Linz, who had been raised to the nobility by the Court. Sorgenthal invigorated the factory and succesfully instigated a new period of significant achievement, dominated by the the neo-classical wares. During the"Sorgenthal period" (1784-1805) an additional year mark was introduced. From 1783 onwards the year mark was impressed alongside the factory mark. From 1783 to 1800 the last two figures of the year were impressed, and from 1800 the last three figures.

Sorgenthal died in 1805, but production continued without any significant change until around 1820. After this quality steadily decreased and after an opinion expressed in the austrian parliament, that the state itself should not be involved in production, the factory was closed in 1864

The name 'Royal Vienna or Vienna Porcelain' also refers to a style of porcelain painting that became very popular during the late 19th and early 20th century.

However, there was no single manufacturer called Royal Vienna at that time. Rather, there were dozens of large and small porcelain makers and decorators thoughout Germany and Austria, producing magnificent portrait plates, wall plaques and other porcelain articles in the vienna style. The quality of these items varies enormously but the best are very sought after and highly collectable.

A large quantity of Royal Vienna portrait plaques or plates are hand painted copies of oil paintings by artists such as Joseph Karl Stieler and Angelo Asti and a study of the artists paintings would increase the collectors knowledge immensely.

Tips on buying royal vienna porcelain plates and wall plaques

Choose your subject carefully.
This is the single most important factor. Find plaques or plates depicting semi-nude female portraits and you've found what everyone is looking for. Semi-nudes command much higher prices than male portraits. Religious subjects, although stunning, are simply not in voque, are a lot less desirable and command lower prices.

Always buy the best quality you can afford
The quality of the painting is one of most important factors when it comes to calculating the value of a particular plaque or plate. Some vienna artists were simply better than others, and if you develop a good eye, you'll learn to spot quality right away. Apart from the quality of the painting, the glaze is also very important. A good deep glaze highlights the colour and protects the surface of the portrait.

Check the border as you would a fine frame on a fine painting.
A border on a royal vienna plate is what a good frame is to a painting or a plaque. It can be rich or it can be simple, but it must be in good condition, with only minimal wear to the gilding, and it must work well with the portrait itself. Most plates have a dark cobalt blue border decorated in a raised gold design.An ivory background is popular, as well as the art nouveau style. However, the most desirable and expensive border is one with raised jewels.

Worry less about the artist than the condition.
Plates and wall plaques produced in the royal vienna style are sometimes signed but most are not. Signatures matter little to the connoisseur collector. Some signatures, wagner for instance might command a higher price but generally signed or unsigned plates are around the same value. Pieces painted by the wagners (a whole family of artists who worked for KPM and other German porcelain makers) tend to be very high quality, especially portraits. But a similar painting by another artist, that presents in the the same condition and is of comparable quality and detail as wagner's, would be worth just as much. Take any other victorian decorative arts maker such as royal worcester fruit, japanese satsuma, meissen pate-sur-pate, and the artist's name is always the most important thing affecting the value. Names like yabu meizan on Japanese ceramics, louis solon on an exquisite pate-sur-pate vase, or harry stinton on a worcester vase and it could command a huge premium. There might even be a similar piece with the same high quality decoration sitting beside it, but if it's not signed then its value is dramatically reduced. Not so with vienna portrait plates or wall plaques.

The beehive or not the beehive.
A minimal consideration is the beehive mark or the lack of it. Dozens of porcelain makers throughout europe made royal vienna style plates and wall plaques. Some marked their pieces with the beehive mark, while others (Dresden, KPM or Hutschenreuther) used their own marks. Try to gauge the items quality first, and the mark second.

Does size matter ?
Most plates are between 9 and 10.5 inches in diameter. Smaller plates are worth less and wall plaques are usually worth more.

Condition is first and foremost.
Royal Vienna plates were made to be displayed in cabinets or hung on indoor walls and have spent their lives there. As a result, they can be found in perfect or almost original condition. Damage is rare, but it is there and it affects the value drastically. Cracks, chips, repairs, stacking wear or prominent scratches will reduce the value, and any major damage will render the piece virtually worthless.