Munich, Germany

Dieter Zeus is one of the artisans appointed to the production phase of porcelain in the Porzelanmanufaktur Nymphenburg; he has been part of the company since 1979. Tina Trautvetter has been working as a painter for the company for seven years; she finds her major inspiration in nature. She studied the technique to become painter of porcelain for three years and a half years. The Porzelanmanufaktur Nymphenburg was founded in 1747 by Prince Maximilian III of Bavaria. It failed at the beginning, but after having hired the Swiss sculptor Francesco Antonio Bustelli, who had a rococo style, the porcelain company had a considerable success. In years there after the industry received a commission from the Munich Court to make painted porcelain. Later the company moved to the castle Nymphenburg, its actual headquarters. Among the notable artists who have participated in the production of porcelain, beyond Bustelli we must mention Dominik Aulickzec (the old man), Johan Peter Melchior and Anton Auer. In the middle of 19th Century, the Porzelanmanufaktur Nymphenburg passed a period of crisis and was privatized. In the middle of the 20th Century, the company was donated to the House of Wittelsbach and in 2011 it was taken over by Prince Luitpold. At present, well-known designers represent the company with their ground-breaking porcelain designs: product designers like Konstantin Grcic, Ted Muehling, Hella Jongerius, Reed Kram, and Clemens Weisshaar, and fashion designers like Christian Lacroix, Vivienne Westwood, Karl Lagerfeld, and Gustavo Lins create objects which receive the greatest acclaim worldwide and have been honored with numerous international prizes.

www.nymphenburg.com