Royal Copenhagen Porcelain

The royal porcelain factory was founded in Copenhagen in 1775 and marked its work with three wavy lines for the three Danish waters. Two patterns made its name: the blue fluted design, painted freehand in cobalt under the glaze with every stroke laid down by hand, and Flora Danica, an eighteenth century service painted with botanically accurate Danish plants, each piece named on its base. Painters still work by hand, and the historic house on Amagertorv, a merchant building of 1616 with a stepped gable, keeps demonstrations and a display of older pieces. It is a craft to watch rather than a museum, and the deeper collection sits in the design museum.

What you actually see

• The blue fluted pattern - cobalt painted freehand under the glaze.
• Flora Danica - the botanical service with each plant named on the base.
• The three wavy lines - the factory mark used since the eighteenth century.
• The Amagertorv house - the stepped gable merchant building of 1616.

When to go

Year-round. Painting demonstrations are not guaranteed on any given day, so this is a stop to fold into a walk down the Stroget rather than a plan in itself. December brings the Christmas plate crowds. Weekday mornings are the calm hours, and the design museum nearby holds the deeper historical collection.

Honest expectations

The building on Amagertorv is a shop first, and the demonstrations are short, so treat it as ten minutes on a walk rather than a destination. The historic collection is at the design museum, which is the better hour if the craft is what interests you. Production moved abroad decades ago apart from the hand-painted lines, which is worth knowing before you read the labels.

Nearby

Amagertorv and the Stork Fountain are outside the door; the design museum is fifteen minutes north.