An English merchant visited the works at Meissen in 1750, and found "about seven hundred men employed, most of whom have not above ten German crowns a month, and the highest wages are forty, so that the annual expense is not estimated above eighty thousand crowns. This manufactory being entirely for the king's account, he sells yearly to the value of one hundred and fifty thousand crowns, and sometimes two hundred thousand crowns (thirty-five thousand pounds sterling[14]), besides the magnificent presents he occasionally makes, and the great quantity he preserves for his own use." The best period of Dresden production is estimated as being from about 1730 to 1756. During this period the works of Kändler were made, and also the paintings of Lindenir, which are much valued. In Fig. 126 is to be seen a fine plate with a pierced border, in the centre of which are painted birds, in the style introduced by Lindenir. The other pieces shown in Fig. 126 are excellent examples of good Meissen porcelain; the cup and saucer, showing Cupids, is most delicately and elaborately painted. Among those who painted somewhat upon the Dresden china was Angelica Kauffmann, whose figures are pervaded with a certain grace and refinement always charming. [Illustration: FIG. 127.--_Dresden._] Fig. 127 shows some choice small pieces from Mr. Wales's collection The centre flower-dish is very finely painted with birds, and the meandering lip, intended to confine the flowers, is peculiar. The two cups and saucers on the right are very richly gilded, the compartments containing delicate flower-painting. The cup and saucer on the left is one of the best examples of the Marcolini period; the gilded edges are exquisitely done, and the flowers, painted in tender browns and greens--not in high colors or in the colors of Nature--are charming. Many pieces of the old Dresden porcelain (and of modern work [Illustration: FIG. 128.--_Dresden Vase._] also) are elaborately decorated with rococo scrolls and flower-work in relief, applied upon candelabra, chandeliers, vases, cups, etc. Unsympathetic buyers will be apt to seize upon these pieces, and they are most common in ordinary collections; but they are very far from being the best or the most interesting. This style of work was introduced and practised by Kändler (1731 to 1763) at the period when the best works were produced; but this style of work is not itself the best, though it may be the most costly. In Fig. 128 we present one of the most elaborate and magnificent examples of this excessive decoration. Nothing is spared; the painting is most delicate, the flowers most intricate, the figures all most perfectly modeled; and yet upon one it produces satiety. It is overdone. Like an overdressed woman, we have lost the divine creation in her clothes. [Illustration: FIG. 129.--_Dresden._]