The first hard-paste porcelain manufacturer in Europe, creator and sole custodian for years of the arcanum, the secret formula of white gold, Meissen is one of the companies with the most impressive history and richest heritage in the world. Founded in 1710 thanks to the maladie de porcelaine of August the Strong, Elector of Saxony, the German manufacturer stands for the highest quality porcelain and workmanship, represented with the insignia of two crossed swords in cobalt blue, one of the oldest global trademarks still in use. The Meissen figurines, large sculptures, table services, and porcelain objects have shaped the course of porcelain history over three centuries.

Their quality is the result of a unique combination of factors: pure kaolin sourced in the manufacturer's own mine, a comprehensive archive of historic models and plaster moulds, a paint laboratory guarding the formulas of approximately 10,000 different colours, and a team of exceptionally skilled artisans always ready to collaborate with artists and designers to break new grounds in the creative possibilities of porcelain.

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Meissen’s creative workshops offer individuals or small groups of participants the opportunity to discover porcelain as a creative medium and gain hands-on experience with fundamental techniques. After a short introduction of the manufacturer's craftsmanship, each participant will start creating his own design, starting from the raw material of porcelain paste and going through the different steps of production under the tutelage of Meissen’s expert artisans. Once the shape is defined, the components assembled and all decorations are in place, the glazing and firing process will be handled by the Meissen artisans and the final creation will be delivered by post to the participants.

Creative porcelain workshop in Meissen

Create your own piece of porcelain

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More than three centuries after its foundation, Meissen porcelain is still created by hand, employing traditional techniques, and every step of creation and decoration takes place within the company’s workshops, in the eponymous town close to Dresden.The daily guided tours organised by Meissen offer an extraordinary opportunity to get into some of the workshops of the oldest porcelain manufacturer in Europe and admire the gestures of their master artisans: potters, who still throw by hand all Meissen plates, cups, and vases; embossers, who put their artistic talent into turning the large number of components into a figurine or statue; under-glaze and on-glaze painters, who give life to the Meissen creations thanks to the infinite combination of colours.

Meissen porcelain manufacturer visit

An insight into porcelain manufacturing

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Hering Berlin is one of the very few authentic porcelain manufacturers in Germany, where every piece comes to life through the human touch, through the skilled hands of its creator and master craftspeople that prolong centuries of tradition. By channelling the knowledge and understanding of traditional techniques and forms into innovation, Stefanie Hering has developed her own repertoire of porcelain recipes, glazes and shapes that is continuously expanded through experimentation.

The result is fine porcelain objects with an artistic appearance that are highly functional at the same time. The designs of Hering Berlin have long since found their way into international design collections and exhibition houses, into the luxury gastronomy and hotel industry, and above all onto the tables of design connoisseurs worldwide.

Hering Berlin

A pillar in porcelain making

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Born as a workshop for porcelain painting founded by Philipp Rosenthal in 1879, the company is today one of the most renowned and yet most innovative manufacturers in Germany, creating porcelain products and interior collections featuring exceptional design, function, quality and the highest manufacturing standards. Long before design was in vogue, Rosenthal had already been working with many contemporary artists, designers and architects, including the German architect Walter Gropius.

The Bauhaus founder not only designed in 1967 the new Rosenthal am Rothbühl porcelain factory, but he also developed in 1969 a timeless, multi award-winning fine porcelain tea service named after his Boston office The Architects Collaborative (TAC). Over the years, Rosenthal has worked with more than 1000 international artists, designers and creators, allowing them to mirror the artistic trends in each particular era. Rosenthal GmbH’s portfolio also includes Rosenthal meets Versace, Hutschenreuther, Sambonet, as well as Thomas and Arzberg.

Rosenthal Manu

Innovation in porcelain making

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Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg has been handcrafting porcelain tableware, figures and objects of the greatest quality and purity since the 18th century. Still today, this is one of the few porcelain manufacturers in the world crafting every single piece entirely by hand, not only without any automated processes and using only porcelain paste made on site, but also without templates for painters. The company was founded by the Wittelsbach family, who moved their first pottery factory in the Nördlisches Schlossrondell to Nymphenburg in 1761, and put their coat of arms on every single piece created.

Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg has always counted the international high aristocracy as well as embassies, churches and palaces among its customers. The Nymphenburg creations have received many prizes and can be admired in the world’s major design collections. In the spirit of the company’s beginnings, internationally recognised designers and artists are again shaping the profile of today’s creations, taking inspiration from its glorious past in order to present pioneering creations of contemporary porcelain design.

Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg

Nymphenburg Schlossrondell↔Nymphenburg Odeonsplatz

Handcrafted porcelain of quality

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Founded in 1746 as the porcelain manufacturer of the Elector of Mainz, the Höchster Porzellan-Manufaktur is the second oldest porcelain manufacturer in Germany. In a listed industrial building at the Höchster Stadtpark, porcelain gifts and accessories are made by hand just as they were made more than 270 years ago. Each piece from the Höchster Porzellan-Manufaktur collection is an expression of craftsmanship, tradition, aesthetics and individuality. Qualities of a style that is not determined by the trends of the day - but rather gives shape to history.

From the traditional production of the porcelain from natural raw materials kaolin, quartz and feldspar, to the first artistic draft and finally the finished masterpiece, many steps are required which are carried out with extensive experience and sensitivity. It is the careful creation by hand, the individual touch of each artisan that gives every piece a special quality and a fascination.

A porcelain manufactory that has shaped times

Hochster Porzellanmanufaktur

Hochster Porzellan-Manufaktur – Am Markt↔Hochster Porzellan-Manufaktur – Palleskestrasse

Porcelain makers since the 18th century

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Developed in partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and made possible by the support of Cartier, Homo Faber in Città gives you a rare chance to visit over 70 artisan workshops. The project is developed in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Confartigianato Imprese Venezia, CNA Venezia, Consorzio Promovetro Murano, The Venice Glass Week and Venezia da Vivere.

Our Partners

Step inside the workshops and ateliers to learn the secrets of local master artisans and manufacturers

Try your hand at different crafts with an authentic experience

Marvel at examples of fine craftsmanship by doing our itineraries

This september, the second edition of Homo Faber in Città invites visitors to step off the beaten track and discover the artisanal addresses where Venetian craftspeople create objects of exquisite beauty. A rare opportunity to witness Venice’s master artisans and young talents demonstrating their crafts and presenting the tools, materials and skills involved in contemporary Venetian craftsmanship.

Enrich your experience beyond Homo Faber 2024: The Journey of Life

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Homo Faber Guide is an online portal dedicated to contemporary craftsmanship, showcasing artisans, ateliers, museums, galleries, shops and experiences. Create your user account for access to exclusive features on Homo Faber Guide: save your preferred pages, hear about hot topics first, leave recommendations for your favourite artisans and much more.

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Although the Michelangelo Foundation researches the talents for its projects autonomously, collaboration with our ambassadors is fundamental. Over 120 associations, schools and institutions allow us to map the continents for craftsmanship and to have partners in each country who share our vision and goals. In addition, we have asked well-known personalities in the craft, design and art world to be our ambassadors in the cities where they live, so that their recommendations can offer a unique insight into craftsmanship in the major cities of Europe and beyond.

Who are our ambassadors?

Download our free Homo Faber Guide app (iOS and Android) to discover artisans, museums, galleries, shops, and experiences by location. Search Homo Faber on the App store on your mobile device.

Find craftsmanship destinations on the go

Discover the addresses of esteemed manufacturers, well known for producing high quality objects across a wide variety of crafts. Read their stories and find out where you can shop their contemporary pieces, see their archive collections and even in some cases visit their workshops. Find exceptional ateliers where artisans collaborate creatively to create fine pieces of craftsmanship. Reach out to them to commission something special.

Ateliers & Manufacturers

All the artisans and small workshops featured in Homo Faber Guide have been carefully researched and selected. They are presented and narrated through a selection of images and an interview, which allows readers to immerse themselves in the universe of these makers who exemplify excellence in their individual fields or are promising talents of the future. Find masters and rising stars who share the same passion and determination, and whose workshops are ready to share their secrets with visitors.

A selection of the best artisans

Are you eager to discover a city through craftsmanship? Do you wish to spend a few hours visiting an applied arts museum or attending a course on a craft with one of the masters featured in Homo Faber Guide? Browse the section dedicated to experiences and find your next adventure.

Experiences

An expert artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years. He or she may also be engaged in passing on their knowledge to the next generations, but they have been doing so for less than seven years. Beyond this, they will become a Master artisan.

Who is an Expert artisan?

Homo Faber Guide provides you with a selection of the best addresses across Europe and further afield, where you will be able to discover and purchase exceptional objects, some of which are created by artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide.

Galleries

Homo Faber Guide is an online platform dedicated to craftsmanship that allows you to discover artisans and their masterpieces; explore museums, visit galleries and shops selling unique objects; enjoy experiences in cities across Europe and beyond.

Homo Faber Guide is a signature project developed by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, an international non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, which was set up in 2016 thanks to the intuition of Franco Cologni and Johann Rupert. The Michelangelo Foundation’s mission is to celebrate and preserve master craftsmanship, and for this reason it has created a map of the most significant representatives in this field, with the aim of connecting all its protagonists: artisans, designers, gallery owners, art curators, collectors and enthusiasts of high-quality handmade pieces.

About the Guide

Are you an artisan, atelier or manufacturer? Would you like to be featured in Homo Faber Guide? The Michelangelo Foundation encourages self-assessment initiatives and is pleased to evaluate new members to appear on the Guide or in other projects. Thanks to the Master’s Touch Evaluation Tool, every artisan can send their application: register and access a questionnaire to see if you fulfill the 11 criteria for excellence that stand behind all the activities of the Michelangelo Foundation. If your answers reach the minimum requirement, your application will be brought to our attention; if, on the contrary, you should score below the minimum requirement, we will give you some points for improvement, in the hope that you may participate in future initiatives of the Michelangelo Foundation.

Join the Homo Faber Guide!

Our artisan labels

A master artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years, and who has also been engaged in passing on his or her expertise to the younger generations for more than seven years. This is in keeping with one of the key values of the Michelangelo Foundation: the transmission of knowledge in craftsmanship.

Who is a Master artisan?

Find museums handpicked for their links to contemporary craftsmanship and the exquisite collections they have on display. In each city, discover a museum of interest and organise your visit. From Italian museums displaying coral collections, glass pieces and ceramics to decorative art museums in Russia and Greece, marvel at the variety of museums exhibiting masterpieces, showcasing techniques and recounting histories.

Museums

A rising star is an artisan who has been active for less than ten years, and who is capable of expressing his or her craft with competence, creativity and originality. Whether self-taught or trained, the rising star represents the future of craftsmanship, in creativity, concerns and approaches.

Who is a Rising star?

The artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide have been selected through a meticulous assessment process based on the 11 criteria for excellence, identified by Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, in the volume The Master’s Touch, written with researchers Giuditta Comerci and Giovanna Marchello. The members of the Michelangelo Foundation’s network who have been invited to participate in sourcing artisans for the Guide use an evaluation tool based on these criteria. In this way, they can identify the most suitable artisans to include in the project.

Simple rules for a transparent selection

In which city does the artisan work?

In which country does the artisan practise?

What craft does the artisan practise?

What is the artisan’s Instagram page?

What is the name of the artisan you are recommending?

Does the artisan have a website?

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