Complete collection

The first Christmas plate

Its Christmas plates are among the most well known of items produced by The Royal Copenhagen Manufactory. The first was produced in 1908. The plate, which was made by Christian Thomsen using authentic underglaze techniques, is entitled “Maria with Child”. He had made his living as a carver prior to coming to the porcelain factory in 1898. Several of his works won the silver medal in Milan in 1908 and the gold medal in Brussels in 1910.

The modeller’s technique

Royal Copenhagen Manufactory plates are made using a special technique, the so-called carving technique, whereby a modeller following the directions of the artist carves the image in a plaster model which is used to manufacture the plate. Then each plate is decorated in blue underglaze colours by a painter, after which it is glazed and fired, leaving an indestructible finished picture under the glaze.