After celadon and whiteware, blue and white porcelain was produced in large quantities in China from the 13th century and exported to Europe in large quantities from the 17th century. In Europe, these sought-after porcelain products were first imitated in the so-called faience technique, where the natural earth-coloured clay is coated with a white tin glaze. Again, blue and white were the dominant colours.
Porcelain production began in the Arita region of Japan around 1616. Initially, blue and white porcelain was produced in the chinese style, but the region also developed its own designs, such as a characteristic two-dimensional decoration in dark blue, red, yellow and gold, or the ‚Kakiemon style‘, which is characterised by a free choice of colours with asymmetrical compositions on a white background.

 It was not until 1708 that porcelain was produced in Europe, first in Dresden. The Meissen manufactory was founded in 1710 and the first competing manufactory in Vienna in 1718. At this time, European porcelain production was again modelled on Japanese and Chinese examples.

Porcelain has been ‚repaired‘ for hundreds of years. One of the oldest methods is to use metal staples to hold the broken pieces together. The so-called Kin Tsugi method is said to have originated in Japan in the 15th century in the search for an attractive repair manner and display – the shards are glued together with resin and the cracks are gilded. It was not until the 19th century that ‚artistic repairs‘ were carried out in Europe with the aim of making damage invisible. Conservation and restoration then developed into an academic profession in the 20th century.

Synthetic resins became the standard bonding agent for porcelain and a means of reconstructing damaged areas.

The range of actual conservation and restoration techniques available today can be seen in the exhibition at Loosdorf Castle. For most of the objects, breaks and areas of loss were left visible in the spirit of ‚minimal intervention‘ and, where necessary, a supporting structure of acrylic glass was used. Selected objects were supplemented and retouched. The majority of the collection still consists of fragments and is presented in a broken state at the „Shard-Room“.