DENMARK.--At Copenhagen there were some early attempts at a soft paste made by a Frenchman named Fournier about 1760.[166] The mark--F. 5.--on this ware refers to Frederick V., the reigning king. But the famous factory of hard-paste porcelain, that has of late years shown so much enterprise and originality,[167] was founded in 1772 by F. H. Müller, a chemist and Government official, the materials being obtained from the island of Bornholm. In this case the German influence came from Meissen, and also, it would seem, by way of Fürstenberg, for we hear of a certain Von Lang from that town (probably the Von Langen mentioned above), baron and arcanist, who helped in the founding of the works. The factory was taken over by the Government in 1779, and it was long worked at a loss. The mark of three wavy lines in blue on this ware stands for the Sound, the Great and the Little Belt (PL. C. 43). The curved mouldings, radiating in sets of three from a central medallion, sometimes found on bowls and plates, may also have a similar reference. This latter decoration is shown well on a bowl at South Kensington, painted with birds and flowers in gold frames. The handsome _cabarets_ and dinner-services produced in the eighteenth century belong to the German school of the time, and have little relation to the more recent developments about which we shall have a word to say in chapter xxiii. RUSSIA.--Peter the Great, at the instigation of his friend and ally, Augustus of Saxony, is said to have projected a manufactory of porcelain at St. Petersburg, but the scheme was not carried out till the time of the Empress Elizabeth. This was probably about 1756, or perhaps earlier, and she doubtless, a few years later, welcomed the Meissen potters driven out by her mortal enemy, Frederick.[168] Under Catherine II. these works rose to some importance, and among the many artists and sculptors attracted to her court, not a few--Falconet, among others--were employed as modellers or painters on porcelain. But on the whole the Russian porcelain was influenced more by Saxon models, and we hear that the gaps in the court services of Meissen ware were so well replaced by native pieces that the new dishes and plates were not to be distinguished from the old. The kaolin and the china-stone were derived from native sources. After the Napoleonic war the manufacture of gigantic vases, in the style of those made at Sèvres under Brongniart’s _régime_, was attempted, and several skilful artists migrated from France. Technically the porcelain was not inferior to the hard paste of the latter country. The only mark is the initial of the reigning Emperor or Empress in Russian characters (PL. C. 46), surmounted sometimes by a crown, but beyond these letters there is nothing Russian about the ware. The factory, which is still carried on, has always been an appanage of the court, and its chief produce has consisted in gala pieces for imperial presents.