Royal Copenhagen porcelain figure #4027, "Girl on Rock Looking Down". Royal Copenhagen stamp and number on base.

Size: 3 x 3 x 5 1/2 in. 

Royal Copenhagen, officially the Royal Porcelain Factory, is a Danish manufacturer of porcelain products that was founded in Copenhagen in 1775 by decree of Danish Dowager Queen Juliane Marie. It is recognized by its factory mark, the three wavy lines above each other, symbolizing Denmark’s three waterways: Storebælt, Lillebælt and Øresund. Europeans, long fascinated by the blue and white porcelain exported from China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, began to imitate the precious ware in the early 17th Century. The Danish chemist Frantz Heinrich Müller was the first operator of the factory, and was given a 50-year monopoly to create porcelain. The factory’s pattern No. 1, still in production, is “Musselmalet” (mussel-painted), known as “Blue Fluted” in English-speaking countries. The blue is cobalt, after a discovery in 1772 of a rich vein of cobalt in Norway, the junior part of the joint kingdom at that time. In 1851 Royal Copenhagen entered into the Great Exhibition in London. In 1868 all royal companies were privatized, although the Royal Porcelain Factory chose to keep the designation due to their international recognition by then. In 1883 the company was bought by Aluminia, an earthenware company. Over the next hundred years they embraced modernist styles, and after multiple acquisitions the company ceased operations in Denmark, with their products now being produced in Thailand. 

This piece came from Aluminia (Royal Copenhagen) and was designed by one of their most famous artists, Johannes Hedegaard (1915-1999). The letter U under the A in DENMARK is the date mark for 1960. The initials “BA” are unknown, but the artist worked on other pieces for the company and was particularly adept at crafting multiple shades of blue with paint. 

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