Meanwhile, Augustus II (1670-1733) of Saxony, known as Augustus the Strong, became a patron of the decorative arts and particularly admired fine Chinese porcelain. He was an avid collector, but he also funded the research and development to create a local porcelain industry, setting up his ceramic works in Meissen. One of his chemists, Johann Bottger, discovered the proper Chinese formula for hard paste porcelain in 1708 while having been mandated by Augustus the Strong, now the King of Poland, to discover a way to produce gold. In 1710, the necessary ingredient of kaolin clay to make hard paste porcelain was discovered within his territory and used at his new factory in Meissen. The local geography of surrounding mountains could be used to protect the factory and the secrets of porcelain manufacture, and the Elbe river provided ready and inexpensive transportation for raw materials and finished product. The Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen as it was known began production in a broad array of shapes, colors and decoration, and in 1719 Augustus brought to the factory top painters and sculptures to create revolutionary new designs and colors for the company. Meissen was unchallenged for supremacy until the mid 1750s by the French royal factory at Sevres, France. The town of Meissen was renamed in 1776 to be Albrechtsburg after the castle. In 1861, the factory was moved piece by piece to a new site in the Triebischtal where it still stands today. Meissen's trademark of crossed swords, derived from Augustus' coat of arms, is known the world over as a mark of the finest quality and a great history. The swords are painted on the porcelain body after the first firing but before the application of glaze, using a special color of cobalt blue and was first adopted in 1724.

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