#Exhibit of the Month

Porcelain is a material that has sparked great interest throughout history, and its production has been a true challenge. Also known as "white gold," porcelain is a white, translucent ceramic material obtained by firing a paste of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar, along with other additives, at high temperatures. It was first discovered and used in China. The first Chinese porcelain objects arrived in Europe in the 13th century, but a broader spread of Chinese porcelain on the European continent is recorded in the 17th century. The technology for producing porcelain was kept a secret by the Chinese for a very long time.

The first hard-paste porcelain manufactory in Europe, located in the city of Meissen, was established in 1710 due to discoveries in porcelain production made by Saxon mathematician and physicist Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhaus (1661-1708), which were put into practice by the royal court alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682-1718). He invented the glaze and achieved the complete fusion of the shard and the glaze. The Meissen factory, still operational today, has created and continues to create a vast range of porcelain products. Crafted by the finest artists, sculptors, and engravers, who use unique hand-painted colors and exclusive designs, Meissen products are of exceptional quality and elegance, enjoying worldwide fame.

The tea set, partially consisting of seven pieces (teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl, and two cups with saucers), displayed in this showcase, is a product of the famous Meissen factory in the Kingdom of Saxony, Germany. It was crafted in the first half of the 19th century from high-quality porcelain. The exhibit became part of the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova through a transfer from the "G. Cotovschi" Memorial House in Hâncești, which was closed in 1989-1990.

The decoration of these pieces is remarkable, featuring hand-painted "German flowers," one of the well-known styles of floral and plant decoration practiced by Meissen craftsmen since the 18th century. They were influenced by Chinese porcelain, which was often adorned with images of flowers and fruits. A distinctive feature of this decorative style was the "scattered flowers" arrangement, where floral elements were placed as individual blossoms or bouquets across the surface of porcelain objects.

The marking on the underside of the pieces consists of two crossed swords, elements borrowed from the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Saxony, applied by hand with cobalt paint under the glaze. With slight variations in the representation of the swords, this mark has been used since 1722 and continues to the present day. The mark on this tea set is characterized by prominent dots on the crossed swords, a feature used at the Meissen factory between 1815 and 1860.

The polychrome floral painting, gilding, and the application of a rosebud on the lids of the teapot and sugar bowl lend a sublime delicacy to these pieces, making them rare and exquisite.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“Enigma. Victory of decrypting”

June 14 - 30, 2021

Thanks to the efforts of brilliant Polish mathematicians, the complex cipher of the Enigma, the German cipher machine, was broken. This influenced the course of World War II. More than seventy years after its completion, the Polish Institute and the Wielkopolska Voivodeship Council invite you from 14 to 30 June 2021 to the National Museum of History of Moldova to visit the exhibition entitled "Enigma. The victory of decrypting".

The German Enigma cipher machine was made by Arthur Scherbius. He achieved commercial success in the civilian market, as well as in state and administrative institutions long before the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945). As early as 1932, Polish cryptologists managed to decipher the extremely complex Enigma codes for the first time. This took place at the Saxon Palace in Warsaw, which housed the headquarters of the Cipher Bureau of the 2nd Division of the Polish Army General Staff.

The parents of the success were the Polish mathematicians-cryptologists: Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski. Their achievements have allowed the decoding of the Enigma ciphers, which were constantly being improved.

Five weeks before the outbreak of World War II, on July 25, 1939, the heads of the Polish Cipher Bureau and the mathematicians-cryptologists revealed the Polish achievements to the French and British secret services. After the outbreak of the war, decryption continued in Great Britain and France, with the participation of Polish scientists. This part of the story is known, however, from movies and books.

The exhibition, prepared by the Wielkopolska Voivodeship Council and, in the Romanian version, by the Polish Institute in Bucharest, acquaints us with the history of lesser-known Polish heroes-cryptologists, their teachers and collaborators, whose knowledge and mathematical genius allowed them to reveal one of the best kept secrets of the Third Reich.

Observing the development of the contemporary knowledge-based economy, we often forget that, in many areas, its roots spring from the trenches of the great wars of the 20th century.

The exhibition can be seen on the fence of the National Museum of History of Moldova (31 August 1989 Street, no. 121A) from 14 to 30 June 2021.

The fascinating history of this achievement can be read in the article about the Enigma in the monthly magazine "Historia" (text in Romanian).