The Meissen porcelain manufactory was the first in Europe to begin making hard-paste porcelain which was comparable in quality to the porcelain made in China. Although Meissen’s early wares imitated the forms and ornament found on Chinese porcelain, this teapot is an example of the European-style decoration that was used at the manufactory. A quatrefoil cartouche of iron red, purple and gilt scrollwork frame harbour scenes in polychrome enamels. These shipping and harbour scenes usually depict classical buildings surrounding an expanse of water, and were used extensively at Meissen from the early 1720s until the 1750s. These scenes derived from folios of prints and illustrated books after paintings by 17th century Dutch masters. Christian Friedrich Herold (1700-1779), a painter who specialised in miniatures, enamels and raised gold work is best known for this type of ornament. He was one of the outstanding Meissen painters working at the manufactory from 1725 to 1778, and his scenes were most often copied from paintings by Jan van Goyen (1596-1656), Jan van de Velde (1593-1641), and Johann Wilhelm Baur (d.1640).
