The porcelain factory at Meissen, near Dresden, was founded in 1709. It was the first European factory to produce ‘true’ or hard-paste porcelain, like that known in China and Japan. The manufactory was owned by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. All the birds and animals in this display case were made for him. They were intended for his so-called Japanese Palace, the walls of which he wished to fill with porcelain.