Spanish Riding School

SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

MANU FACTUM EST „Von Hand gefertigt“ „Hand made“

The “Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten” was founded in 1718, making it the second-oldest in Europe.

The “white gold” from Vienna has been lovingly moulded and shaped, glazed and painted by hand ever since; therefore every single piece of finest Augarten is unique.

What’s more, our designs and artistic values reflect our collaboration with well-known artists through the generations. This tradition is perpetuated to this day through our work with recognised designers.

Augarten is famous among leading manufactories for the whiteness of its porcelain, its fine and delicate craftsmanship and its exquisite painting.

MANU FACTUM EST The production process From raw material to unique finished article.

So delicate and yet so robust – the secret of how to make porcelain eluded the western world for a long time.

Discovering the formula certainly required some intuition from the alchemists. Yet making the finest porcelain requires just three “ingredients” FELDSPAR, QUARTZ, AND KAOLIN The secret lies in getting the proportions right! Once the mix has been prepared, it can be employed immediately to make the most beautiful shapes. If the piece is to be thrown on the wheel, the paste has to be allowed to mature until it achieves the ideal consistency. Round and free-form shapes are created by hand on the wheel and are then dried.

Plaster moulds are required to make the various parts for each piece of porcelain. Hollow shapes and figurines are cast and then allowed to dry before being removed from the mould. A single figure can consist of anything up to 70 separate parts that are put – or rather stuck – together and finished in a time-consuming manual process. The same porcelain paste is used to make the supports that hold the piece of porcelain in the required shape during firing.

Casting

Taking out of the shape

The individual pieces

Sharpening

Cleaning

The original

Glazing

The art of painting

Signing

Next, the tricky firing process begins. The first firing is known as biscuit firing, and takes place at 930° C. It causes the material to harden but its surface remains porous. Next it is time to give the raw porcelain its “identity”. Each piece is checked and cleaned and then marked with the signature striped shield prior to glazing. The shield is the coat of arms of the Babenberg family, and has been the trademark of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory since 1744.

Once the glazing has been applied by hand, the porcelain gets its second or main firing. This takes place at a temperature of 1380° C, and gives the porcelain almost the same compressive strength as steel. The porcelain now has a smooth, glazed surface, which is just perfect for detailed decoration using a quill pen or brush. Depending on the pattern and the number of colours, there can be up to six intermediate firings. Finally, gilt edges or decoration for the relevant pattern are painted on. Gold dust mixed with clove oil is applied to the porcelain and the piece is fired again to volatise the fugitive components so that 24-carat gold is all that remains. It is then polished with agate or sea sand. The Vienna manufactory is well known among connoisseurs for the purity, colour and intensity of the gold.

Every Augarten piece is thus the product of the enormous patience and creativity of craftsmen who are true experts in their field.

AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

The Spanish Riding School as design model The Spanish Riding School’s performances take place at Vienna’s Winter Riding School built by Fischer von Erlach between 1729 and 1735. Famous for its equestrian spectacles, this is where horses of the finest stock and top professional riders demonstrate haute école (“high school”) steps and movements to the strains of Mozart.

Some of the most well-known exercises such as the levade, the courbette and the capriole have been immortalized in porcelain figures created by the artists of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten.

Historical shoot of a figure modeller while “luting”

Probably the most difficult model – the Capriole – places great artistic and huge technical demands on the porcelain makers.

It was the middle of the twentieth century before this model could be produced to the high quality standards for which the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten is famous.

There are eight figures in the Spanish Riding School series from the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten:

Historical shoot of a “stove fitter”

Spanish Riding School

       

Courbette Levade with rider Levade without rider Pirouette Piaffe Trot In the posts Capriole

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est Historical shoot of a paintress

The Artists Professor Albin Döbrich

Model for the figure modellers of the Porcelain manufactory

Professor Albin Döbrich worked for the porcelain manufactory from around 1924 to 1930 and in this period he created both the Spanish Riding School figures and other popular figures such as Der Rosenkavalier and Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau from the Richard Strauss opera of the same name. Other Döbrich creations include the Thimig group, Leo Slezak and one of the many stage figures of Gustav Waldau (1871-1958), who was one of the founders of the theatre in Vienna’s Josefstadt. Among the artist’s animal figures are a fennek, a pheasant and a Ri-Ri. Karin Jarl-Sakellarios

Prof. Döbrich models Gustav Waldau

Spanish Riding School

This artist also designed Spanish Riding School models between 1925 and 1937. Her other figures include the “Tierharmoniker” – a group of pachyderms playing music, large sculptures such as the “Rossebändiger” (horse breaker) – which can be admired in its original size in front of the Viennese Parliament – and numerous hunting figures.

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

The Highlights of an „Augarten Lippizaner“ In the “Capriole” and “Am langen Zügel” (on the long rein) figures, the reins are not cast from a single piece of porcelain but cut from a thin porcelain plate and attached to the bridle and curb by the retoucher using liquid porcelain paste.

The stirrup, sabre and stirrup strap are made individually in exactly the same way and attached to the rider using highly skilled craftsmanship.

Individual pieces of an equestrian before the process of luting

The horse is wearing a gold-plated breastplate which passes between its forelegs and is linked to the saddle strap.

The crupper and the tail tassel, also goldplated, can be seen at the back of the horse.

Under the saddle is the red shabrack, which is decorated with two wide gold borders.

Individual pieces of a „Lippizaner“ before the process of luting

The horse’s upright stance poses great problems for the retoucher when it comes to achieving the right balance. The body thickness is entirely in keeping with the structural requirements. The front part of the figure and its head are therefore very thin, with a maximum wall thickness of 2.5 mm. This means they are light enough to give the figure the required strength at the high firing temperature of 1,420°C.

Plaster mould and the so called master mould made out of silicone

Spanish Riding School

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

Courbette

Designed by Prof. Albin DĂśbrich, 1925 1,05 kg, h: 28 cm

Art.Nr. 011 210 1595

The courbette is what is known as a school jump. The horse jumps even distances in the levade position without touching the ground with its forelegs, which remain raised.

The modeller has to assemble 68 separate parts to make this figure. All the weight is on the hind legs and the tail and, consequently, the person placing the figure in the kiln needs to be extremely careful. If it is not positioned perfectly with optimum support from firing accessories, the upright stance could easily be lost and it would no longer pass the strict quality controls.

The rider is wearing his parade uniform, which includes a red tailcoat with golden epaulettes and borders. The horse’s bridle is black with gold trim and the mane is also decorated with gilded tassels.

Spanish Riding School

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

Levade with rider

Designed by Prof Albin Döbrich, 1925 1,03 kg, h: 22,5 cm

Art.Nr. 011 210 1591

Crouched on its haunches, the horse raises its forehand so that it makes an angle of less than 45 degrees with the ground.

The painter must demonstrate an exceptional touch when completing this figure. If he presses too hard on the sabre – the Achilles heel of the levade with rider – when attaching the figure, he will break the tip of the sabre and ruin the work of the many artists through whose hands it has already passed.

Spanish Riding School

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

Levade without rider

Designed by Karin Jarl-Sakellarios, 1926 0,72 kg, h: 21,5 cm

Art.Nr. 011 210 1550

Some horses learn the levade without a rider to start with. It needs to be mastered before learning the aerial jumps.

The way a horse takes to the levade can also, to a certain extent, indicate whether it is more suited to the capriole or the courbette. At the Vienna Manufactory, too, the levade is used during the training of the figure modellers as an introduction to the demanding Spanish Riding School models.

Because of the level of difficulty of these models, work on the riding school figures only starts in the third year of training.

Spanish Riding School

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

Pirouette

Designed by Prof. Albin Döbrich, 1929 0,73 kg, h: 24 cm

Art.Nr. 011 210 1668

When performing the pirouette, the horse’s forehand moves in a circle around the hind quarters, which also move in a tiny circle about a central point as close as possible to the inside hind leg. When creating this figure, the modeller’s main task is to convey the harmony between horse and rider.

Just like the levade with rider, attaching the delicate sabre requires maximum concentration.

Spanish Riding School

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

Piaffe

Designed by Prof. Albin Döbrich, 1925 0,80 kg, h: 23,5 cm

Art.Nr. 011 210 1590

In equestrian terms, the piaffe is part of an haute école/dressage exercise. Piaffing consists of trotting almost on the spot with a short pause in mid-air between the diagonal steps. This figure is an impressive demonstration of the modeller’s craftsmanship. The model is supported on the horse’s front left and back right legs and thus requires excellent balance.

The rider in this figure is wearing a brown tailcoat. His hat is worn sideways and decorated with gold at the front. The bridle and reins have gold-plated buckles and the curb connector is also gilded. The horse does not have a breastplate, only a crupper. As with the other models, the shabrack is red with gold trim.

Spanish Riding School

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

Trot

Designed by Prof. Albin Dรถbrich, 1925 0,86 kg, h: 23,5 cm

Art.Nr. 011 210 1592

The horse is switching from one diagonally opposite pair of legs to the other with a short pause in mid-air in between.

As with most Spanish Riding School models, the retoucher has the difficult task of ensuring a perfect balance.

Spanish Riding School

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

In the posts

Designed by Prof. Albin Döbrich, 1926 1,35 kg, h: 23,5 cm

Art.Nr. 011 210 1596

This figure shows the horse between the posts practicing the levade. Posts help to improve the horse’s commitment on its hind quarters and its rhythm.

The rider is standing to the left of the horse’s hind quarters and is holding the Spanish Riding School’s traditional willow crop in his right hand. The two post halter reins hold the horse in the required training position while the two side reins give it the noble neckline known as the swan’s neck.

This figure is extremely difficult to produce. One of the key difficulties is ensuring that the posts are completely upright. What's more, the post halter reins have to be stretched tight. This requires an exceptionally fine touch because there is a great risk of the reins breaking, even when drying in the open air.

Spanish Riding School

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AUGARTEN PORZELLAN manu factum est

Capriole

Designed by Prof. Herbert Schwarz, 1962 1,07 kg, h: 30 cm

Art.Nr. 011 210 1833

This figure shows a horse performing an haute école jump. The horse has jumped vertically and has all four legs stretched out at the same time. Because this jump looks rather like a goat leaping, it was christened the capriole – the goat’s jump (capra is the Latin word for goat).

The Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten has achieved the highest level of difficulty with this model. In this imposing position – almost floating in mid-air – the horse is only connected to the rider's left hand, which is holding the rein, and his right shoulder. In his right hand, the rider is holding the willow crop which is made from metal in this model.

It only became possible to produce this model – designed by Professor Herbert Schwarz – in porcelain in 1962.

The immense structural difficulties are one of the greatest challenges facing figure modellers. This model is painted in the same way as the figures between the posts and performing the piaffe and trot.

Spanish Riding School

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