The crossed swords are still used.
We often meet with pieces of Dresden china which have an engraved cut or scratch across the swords, which indicates, as before said, that the pieces have been painted outside the factory.
The beds of fine clay in Saxony are much deteriorated; and the productions at Meissen no longer hold so high a place as they once did.
Berlin Porcelain—Hard Paste.—It was not until 1751 that attempts were made to produce porcelain in Prussia. This was a private enterprise undertaken by a Mr. Wegeley. The Gentleman’s Magazine of 1753 spoke of him in this way: “There has been discovered here at Berlin the whole art of making china-ware, without any particular kind of earth, from a kind of stone which is common enough everywhere,” etc.
Wegeley worked on for eight years, but could not make the production pay, and abandoned it; when it was taken up by a banker named Gottskowski (1762), who, having capital, pushed it toward success. In 1763 the establishment was bought by Frederick the Great, who made it a royal manufactory, and forced a success.
