A Walk with a Dinosaur
– Michael Geertsen vs Royal Copenhagen.
Celebrating 250 Years of Porcelain History
27 April – 30 December 2025
In 2025, Royal Copenhagen celebrates its 250th anniversary. To mark this occasion, CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark has invited the esteemed ceramic artist Michael Geertsen to engage the factory’s rich cultural-historical legacy in dialogue. From the imposing ornamental objects from the late 18th century to the modernist tableware from the mid-20th century and the iconic Blue Fluted porcelain service, Royal Copenhagen has defined Danish porcelain history.
As a ceramic artist, Geertsen takes a constructive and critical approach to the tradition he was raised in. The exhibition revolves around ten highlights from the history of the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory, staging an encounter between the classic porcelain objects and Geertsen’s reinterpretations. In so doing, he offers a new perspective on 250 years of Danish porcelain history.
For 250 years, Royal Copenhagen has been a cornerstone of Danish decorative arts that has influenced our aesthetic consciousness and our crafts tradition. This exhibition highlights the influence that Royal Copenhagen has had on Danish art and cultural history and illustrates how the factory’s rich traditions have been conserved and are being renewed by contemporary artists, such as Michael Geertsen.
Pomp and splendour
In the exhibition, Geertsen addresses some of the earliest ornamental pieces from the factory’s production. These vessels demonstrate how the skilled employees of the factory soon mastered the techniques involved and the tricky porcelain clay. One of these pieces, Ornamental vase with two Fama figures, was purchased by Crown Prince Frederik (VI) as a birthday gift for himself in 1790. It was the factory’s largest and most expensive piece to date and received coverage in newspapers in Altona, Odense and Copenhagen. The ornamental vases are normally found at Rosenborg Castle, as part of the Royal Danish Collection, but they have made the trip to CLAY especially for this exhibition to appear side by side with Michael Geertsen’s reinterpretations.
In connection with the exhibition, Geertsen worked closely with Royal Copenhagen’s modellers and painters to create new takes on iconic pieces and patterns. In addition to porcelain and stoneware pieces, Michael Geertsen also brings some of his own sketches into a conversation with sketches and working drawings by G. F. Hetsch (1788–1864), Arnold Krog (1856–1931) and Thorkild Olsen (1890–1973).
DETAILS
About Michael Geertsen (b.1966)
Completed his training as a potter in 1988. Graduated from the Danish Design School, Department of Industrial Design, in Copenhagen in 1993. Has exhibited both in Denmark and abroad and is represented in the collections of museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and MAD/Museum of Arts and Design in New York. In 2011, he created a permanent installation at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
About Royal Copenhagen
The Danish Porcelain Factory was founded in 1775 in Købmagergade in Copenhagen by pharmacist Frantz Heinrich Müller under the patronage of Queen Dowager Juliane Marie. The factory’s characteristic mark with the three waves symbolically represents Denmark’s three main waterways: the Øresund, the Great Belt and the Little Belt. In 1779, the factory was taken over by Christian VII and renamed the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory.
In 1885, Arnold Krog was appointed as artistic director of the factory. He renewed the Blue Fluted pattern and developed underglaze decorations with inspiration from Japan. The factory’s products attracted attention at the 1889 Paris Exposition. In reflection of this international success, ‘Royal Copenhagen’ was included as part of the factory’s mark from the 1890s.
Today, the company is owned by the Finnish Fiskars group.
About the Royal Copenhagen Collection at CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art
In 2010, Royal Scandinavia A/S, the then owner of Royal Copenhagen, donated the entire collection of the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory, Bing & Grøndahl and Aluminia to CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark.
With this donation, the museum received close to 55,000 ceramic objects in faience, stoneware and porcelain. The collection also includes thousands of sketches, working drawings and other documents, which tell 250 years of Danish design history.
The exhibition has received support from:
Augustinus Foundation
Beckett Fonden
Danmarks Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond
Davids Fond og samling
Den Faberske Fond
Ellen & Knud Dalhoff Larsens Fond
Lemvigh-Müller Fonden
New Carlsberg Foundation
Danish Arts Foundation