“This entire lofty endeavour…”: a princely Porcelain Cabinet in the Age of Reason

Sebastian Kuhn

Karoline Luise, Margravine of the small principality of Baden-Durlach in southwestern Germany (1723-83), was one of the most cultured princesses and great collectors of her age. Her paintings cabinet and her interest in the natural sciences are well documented, but she also owned a very substantial and today little-known collection of Asian and European ceramics. This paper will discuss the scope of her ceramics collection - with a focus on European porcelain - including the integration of older collections received by inheritance, purchases made by the Margravine herself, and how fashion and the scientific approach of the Enlightenment influenced her perception of the material and the way she chose to display it.