Volkstedt Porcelain has enjoyed a long history as it was located in the heart of Germany. The Volkstedt, as well as the Dresden and Meissen areas of Germany, are known for their almost translucent hard paste porcelain.
Volkstedt porcelain, located in the Thuringian region of Germany, was the site of the first factory to manufacture porcelain within the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt principality. The Volkstedt porcelain factory came about when Georg Heinrich Macheleid approached Johann Friedrich von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.. Macheleid wanted the right to have the only porcelain factory in the prince's domain.
Prince von Schwarzburg granted Macheleid permission in 1760 to open the Volkstedt porcelain factory. This permission ensured Macheleid access to an array of privileges. These privileges included a supply of firewood and the right to have access to the food sources and spirits they deemed necessary in order to manufacture the Volkstedt porcelain. In addition, there were no taxes for at least four years and only limited oversight. This arrangement was to continue until someone else was able to make a better porcelain than Macheleid..
By 1764, Macheleid was no longer a principal player at the Volkstedt porcelain factory although he was involved in a lesser fashion for the next twenty years. In 1767, the shareholders of Volkstedt Porcelain chose Christian Nonne to lease the factory to due to difficulties in the past few years.
Also in 1767, when Prince Ludwig Gunther II became the successor to the throne upon Prince Johann Friedrich's death, he became a shareholder in the Volkstedt Porcelain factory along with his wife Sophie Henriette. At that time, Prince Ludwig Gunther ruled that whomever was the current prince shall be a shareholder of the Volkstedt porcelain factory. In addition, he extended the exclusive privileges the factory of Volkstedt porcelain had previously enjoyed in Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
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The Volkstedt Porcelain factory produced a wide array of fine porcelain wares. These included candlesticks, steins, buttons, medals, and butter boxes to name just a few of their offerings. The Volkstedt porcelain factory is probably most famous, however, for its intricately detailed figurines. These figurines were often of women and men of nobility going about activities such as playing musical instruments, reading, courtship, and dancing.
Using lace dipped in porcelain paste and kiln baked so that the cotton lace burned away was a popular technique used at the factory of Volkstedt porcelain. This process left a porcelain lace behind that was very delicate and fragile. With the proper care, however, this lace can last for generations.
The factory of Volkstedt porcelain was fortunate in that the raw materials for the manufacture of their porcelain products were able to be obtained locally. The porcelain soil came from Gabersdorf which is near Graefenthal. A specialized type of clay called kapselton was found in the Coburg area. The sand that was necessary for the production of Volkstedt Porcelain was obtained from the Koenigssee and Rudolstadt regions.
Around 1832, the Volkstedt Porcelain factory ceased to enjoy the protection of exclusivity afforded the factory in previous years by the reigning prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. This enabled other porcelain factories to move into the area. As the 19th century turned into the 20th century, the Volkstedt Porcelain factory was merged with a factory called Porzellanfabrik Unterweibach A.G. This stock corporation was owned by Max Adolf Pfeiffer.
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