| Type | Porcelain Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1 May 1775 |
| Headquarters | Denmark, Copenhagen |
| Parent | Axcel |
| Website | Royal Copenhagen |
Royal Copenhagen, officially the Royal Porcelain Factory (Danish: Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik) is a manufacturer of porcelain products and was founded in Copenhagen 1 May 1775 under the protection of Queen Juliane Marie. It is recognized by its factory mark, the three wavy lines above each other, symbolizing Denmark’s three straits: Oresund, the Great Belt and the Little Belt.[1]
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Starting in the 17th century, Europeans were fascinated by the blue and white and white porcelain exported from China during the Ming and Qing dynasties,[2] but Danes had to discover for themselves how to produce the "white gold" (white glaze) that they found so irresistible about porcelain.
The Royal Copenhagen manufactory operations began in a converted post office in 1775. It was founded by a chemist, Frantz Heinrich Müller, who was given a 50-year monopoly to create porcelain. The first pieces manufactured were dining services for the royal family.[3] When, in 1779, King Christian VII assumed financial responsibility, the manufactory was styled the Royal Porcelain Factory. In 1790, Royal Copenhagen brought out its now famous Flora Danica ‘Blue Fluted’ dinner service, with gilded edge and Danish flora motifs,[4] and Royal Copenhagen held a monopoly on the "Blue Fluted" name.[5]
By 1851, Royal Copenhagen qualified for the World Expo in London. In 1868, as a result of royal companies' privatization, the Royal Porcelain Factory came into private hands. It was purchased by the faience factory Aluminia in 1882. Shortly after Aluminia's acquisition, Royal Copenhagen production was moved to a modern factory building at Aluminia’s site in Frederiksberg, on the outskirts of Copenhagen. By 1889, Royal Copenhagen qualified for the World Expo in Paris, winning the Grand Prix, giving it international exposure.
In recent years, Royal Copenhagen acquired Georg Jensen in 1972, incorporated with Holmegaard Glass Factory in 1985, and finally Bing & Grøndahl in 1987. Today, Royal Copenhagen is a part of a group of Scandinavian companies, Royal Scandinavia, together with Georg Jensen, and is owned by the Danish private equity fund, Axcel. Following Axcel's acquisition of Royal Scandinavia, Holmegaard Glasværk was sold in a MBO and a controlling interest in the Swedish glass works Orrefors Kosta Boda was sold to New Wave Group. In April 2008 it was reported that Royal Copenhagen was moving nearly all of its production to Thailand.[6]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Royal_Copenhagen Royal Copenhagen] at Wikimedia Commons