#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

Chronological Axis

Iron Age and Antiquity

(last centuries of 2nd millennium B.C. – first centuries of 1st millennium A.D.)

The beginning of the Iron Age in the area between Prut and Dniester is considered in the pan-European context of “hallstattization” of material and spiritual culture of the population – phenomena, which started in the last centuries of the 2nd millennium B.C. and completed in the first centuries of the 1st millennium A.D.

The framework of the Iron Age includes several large periods. The first one is the period of Thracian Hallstatt represented by the cultures of Cisinau-Corlateni, Saharna-Solonceni-Cozia, and Soldanesti-Basarabi type. This period is characterized by the pottery ornamented with grooves and incisions. Bronze items were widespread. In the period of hallstattization of the East-Carpathian forest-steppe regions, in the steppe areas the nomadic cattle-breeders dominated (the Belozerca culture). The Cimmerians often penetrated in their environment (9th – 7th centuries B.C.). By the middle of the 7th century B.C. the Scythian tribes appear in the region. Vestiges of their material culture can be found mainly in the funeral complexes.

The period of Hallstatt is important for the fact that it laid the foundation of the Getae-Dacian culture that existed in the 6th – 1st centuries B.C. The number of the archaeological sites attributed to the Getae at present amounts to 250. The Getae settlements and fortresses were fortified with ramparts and moats. Fortifications were found in different localities, of which Trebujeni, Butuceni, Saharna Mare and Saharna Mica, Stolniceni, and Mascati are the most representative ones. The predominant funeral rite was incineration. Material culture of the Getae includes pottery, tools and weapons made of bronze and iron, buckles, bracelets, mirrors, glass beads. Discoveries of coins and coin hoards testify to the existence of economic relations with the Greek world.

The presence of these cultural and economic contacts with the population of North-Pontic Greek colonies since the middle of the 1st millennium B.C. is supported by the discovery of imported items, such as amphorae, beautiful vessels, and gold jewellery, at the settlements and necropolises. Greek amphorae constitute the largest group of the imported items. They have allowed identifying of the production centres, which exported goods, especially wine and olive oil, to the region. The museum collection contains the amphorae produced in the Greek poleis of Chios, Lesbos, Samos, Thasos, Heraclea, Tauric Chersonese, Sinope, etc. The earliest objects date from the late 6th century B.C., and the latest ones date from the early 2nd century B.C.

A significant group of Greek artefacts consists of black-glazed vessels (kantharos, kylix, skyphos, bowl, fish-plate, lekythos). The earliest ones date from the late 5th century B.C. The red-figure pelike with representations of the Greek mythical personages found in the tumulus 1 from Manta, the golden necklace from the tumulus 5 from Dubasari, and the Olanesti hoard are the real pearls of the museum collection. In the last centuries of the 1st millennium B.C., from the northwest Germanic tribes of the Bastarnians penetrate to the region. Since the 1st century B.C. from the east towards the Prut-Dniester area there was advancing a new wave of cattle-breeders – the Sarmatian tribes, which had many imported Roman objects in their material culture.

The end of armed confrontations with the Roman Empire in 105 – 106 signified the acceleration of Romanization of the local population, the adoption of different forms of material culture and spiritual life. Vestiges of the free Dacians, investigated in the recent years, are significant in this sense.

One of the most representative cultural and historical phenomena of the first centuries A.D. was the Santana de Mures – Chernyakhov culture. There are known hundreds of settlements and necropolises with a large variety of material: vessels of different shapes; gold and silver jewellery; bone, glass, bronze, and iron items.

With the bearers of this culture the era of the great migrations of peoples begins. After them came the Huns, Slavs, Hungarians, Pechenegs, Kumans, Mongols, which were staying in the territory for a long or short time.