The purple colour dates back to the 1600s, where German alchemist A. Cassius developed the glowing, intense shade. When Frantz Heinrich Müller founded the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory in 1775, he kept this very formula in his notebook. In later years, Royal Copenhagen has brought the historic recipe back to life for the overglaze hand-painted decoration on Purple Fluted Half Lace.

The timelessly beautiful Purpur Fluted Half Lace Cup and Saucer is an elegant little set that goes well as a morning coffee companion or as a cozy duo on your nightstand before bedtime. Hand painted onto the glossy porcelain glaze, the deep red purpur colour pops beautifully, adding historic elegance to any existing collection of cups.

When the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory was founded in 1775, it was decided that the production should focus on the blue underglaze painted porcelain. However, it was too tempting not to experiment with porcelain decorated in other colours than blue. But this was a costly affair that required the porcelain to go through many firings, as the colours had to be painted on the surface of the glaze, unlike the resilient blue colour.

Luckily, the skilled craftsmen of the porcelain factory found a golden middle way; finer than the blue painted but not as expensive as the multicoloured: Purpur.

The craftsmanship behind the exclusive purpur-coloured collections is something quite special. Not only is the history of the colour quite unique, the purpur-colored collections are also painted with the special overglaze technique that we know from e.g. the Flora Danica collection. This means that the porcelain painters decorate the porcelain after it has been glazed and fired at the 1375 degrees.

The purpur colour cannot withstand this high temperature, and is therefore fixed in a final firing at approx. 800 degrees. Because the decoration is painted on top of the glossy layer of glaze, and only the bottom layer of color merges with the glaze, the brush strokes and color stand out on the porcelain surface with extra sharpness and intensity. If you run a finger over the paint on an overglaze decoration, you can clearly feel that the color is on top of the glaze.