Quote from Dresden Museum Label:
The porcelain Collection of August the Strong.
Dresden owes one of the most important collections of Chinese, Japanese and early Meissen porcelain to the zeal of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (1670-1733). Collecting oriental porcelain had an important representational function of European courts during the Baroque period. Augustus the Strong had the “Hollandische Palais” (Dutch Palace), which was bought in 1717, transformed into a palace for porcelain in which oriental porcelain was to be displayed alongside Meissen porcelain. Descriptions of the mansion which from 1722 onwards was called the “Japanese Palace” convey an impression of the splendor of the rooms with their oriental lacquer work and precious silk fabric in “indianischen stil” (Indian style). The present-day method of displaying oriental porcelain in the arched niches is reminiscent of the original arrangement reflecting the baroque predilection for symmetry. A special feature of the Dresden porcelain collection are the inventories from the 18th century which have been preserved. The oriental porcelain recorded in the ealiest inventory from 1721 amounts to more than 22,000 items, of which roughly 8,000 have been preserved. The incised or painted old inventory number can be seen on the back of many of the pieces of porcelain on display. The king died in the year 1733 before the completion of the “Japanisches Palais” (Japanese palace) as a palace for porcelain. Despite further acquisitions by his successors, the passionate interest in oriental porcelain was extinguished with the death of Augustus the Strong. The greater part of the porcelain collection on which had been removed for safe keeping survive the destruction of the Second World War and was transported as spoils of war to the Soviet Union whence it returned in 1958. The installation of the porcelain collection in the Zwinger was followed in the year 1962. After the ostentatious renovation by New York architect Peter Marino of one part of the Oriental Gallery in 2006, also the second oriental wing gleams today in Baroque splendour Marino created the designs for the decoration of 2010, which blends authentic historical forms based on the concept of the “Japanisches Palais” (Japanese Palace) with a modern interpretation of historical design.