| Summary: | This article discusses the acquisition of East Asian porcelain for the furnishing of the Japanese Palace, Augustus the Strong’s pleasure palace in Dresden. It focuses on two important documents that give information on how and where porcelain was purchased in 18th century Saxony: firstly, the historic royal inventories, assembled between 1721-1727, which not only record the interior equipment of the palace, but which also refer to a number of porcelain dealers from Dresden and Leipzig by name. Secondly, a set of letters between the Saxon court and Dutch dealers in the Netherlands provide us with information on the porcelain market in Holland between 1716-1718, a timeframe in which two charges of East Asian porcelains were acquired for the Japanese Palace with the help of resident merchants. The article aims to highlight the importance of these local correspondents for the assembly of Augustus the Strong’s East Asian porcelain collection and what networks these dealers drew back upon. Furthermore, it tries to shed further light on the provenience of selected objects from the extant collection of the Porzellansammlung Dresden by connecting them to the above-mentioned purchases made in the Netherlands.
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