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The etymology of the word "CapoDiMonte" predates Biblical times and Biblical languages. The earliest references demonstrate CapoDiMonte to be the position that is above the pinnacle of a mountain. The Greek Septuagint interprets the reference CapoDiMonte as "Above the Mountain", interpreted to be God and/or the voice of the Almighty, above the highest of human reach, therefore; ... above the highest point of a mountain top.

Capodimonte porcelain is the finest and most perfect grade of Italian artistic pottery and one of the most appreciated handicrafts for its craftsmanship and detailed qualities. The name Capodimonte (Top of the hill) is mainly binded to the city of Naples and, particularly, to the kingdom of Charles III of Bourbon who, in 1743, built on the hill near to the royal palace, just called Capodimonte, a factory to produce porcelain that can reach the glory of the best European factories, first of all the Meissen factory. The production, firstly identified with the Bourbon lily then, under Ferdinand IV with the famous crowned N, ends near 1820.

In the period between the two World Wars, while the area surrounding Naples maintained mainly the flower production, around Milan the tradition bounded forward. In the fifties, the inspiration of famous sculptors like Borsato, Cappe, Fabris, Maggione, Cazzola, Pezzato, Scapinello, De Martino, and Merli sustains mainly the figurine tradition. A trend develops also in Veneto, between the cities of Vicenza and Bassano, cradle of Palladio and fertile ground of artists and artisans. As heiress of a school that from over 200 years is bringing to the world the taste and inventiveness of Italian porcelain. Capodimonte Arte’ is representing today an example of continuity, search and innovation in the tradition, having melted the creative Neapolitain fantasy together with the formal and chromatic originality of Veneto.

The origin of Capodimonte porcelain dates back to the early eighteenth century and geographically to the Kingdom of Naples. The father of Capodimonte porcelain is considered to be Charles of Bourbon (1716-1788) son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Italian, Elizabeth Farnese. Charles was coronated King of Naples and Sicily on August 3rd, 1734 in Palermo Cathedral becoming Charles VII (1738-1759). In 1738 he married Maria Amalia daughter of the King of Saxony, Augustus III of Poland and granddaughter of Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and founder of the first European hard paste porcelain factory in Meissen in 1710.

It was from this union that Charles’ interest in porcelain production in Naples first sprang. His desire was to create a porcelain production of a quality comparable with the factory in Saxony, whose methods and ingredients were only known by the chemist Bottiger. Charles initially allocated a small building in the Royal Palace to be dedicated to porcelain production under the direction of Giovanni Caselli and the chemist Livio Ottavio Schepers, who had originally worked at the Neapolitan Mint.

In spite of many efforts, including those underhand, the formula for porcelain remained a mystery. From the many investigations Charles finally concluded that the conditions in this little building were not suitable for porcelain production because there was not sufficient space for the ovens and driers. In 1743 Charles then commissioned the construction of a new factory in the Royal Wood of Capodimonte, the architect being Ferdinando Sanfelice.

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After much research throughout Italy to find a suitable substance to produce porcelain equal in quality to Chinese porcelain, deposits of kaolin, similar to that used by the Chinese, were discovered at Fuscaldo and Paola in the Province of Catanzaro. Immediately Charles ordered brushes and all painting equipment from Dresda, and gold, used for the gilding, was obtained from crushed Ungheris and Zecchinis. Charles also employed the chemist and son of Livio Schepers, Gaetano Schepers, who perfected the porcelain paste.

Full production began with a workforce consisting of artistic director of miniatures, Giovanni Caselli, painter of the Royal Camera, his niece Maria Caselli painted flowers and landscapes, Giuseppe della Torre, Luigi Restile and Giacomo d’Avolio painted animals and battle scenes, Nicola Senzapaura painted villages and scenes with little figures and Giacomo Nani painted animals and fruit. The miniaturists Giovanni Sigismondo Fischer from Dresda and Ferdinand Sorrentino from Naples painted snuff-boxes. Knobs on walking sticks were mounted in gold by the Frenchman Pietro Chevalier and the Neapolitan Antonio de Laurentis.

The products manufactured at Capodimonte in this period included plates, vases, small and large bowls, tea and coffee cups, large and small jugs, sugar bowls, tea caddies, teapots, snuff-boxes, and walking stick handles mounted in gold.

In 1759 Philip V of Spain died and Charles took up the Spanish throne becoming Charles III King of Spain (1759-1788). Prior to his departure from Naples he ordered the demolition of the Royal Factory and transported all moulds, models and artists with him to Spain to found the porcelain factory Buen Retiro near Madrid, in an attempt to preserve his secret of porcelain manufacture and to leave almost no trace as to the origin of his discoveries.

Charles’ son Ferdinand (1751-1825) succeeded his father to the Neapolitan throne becoming Ferdinand IV King of Naples (1759-1816) and later as Ferdinand I King of the Two Sicilies (1816-1825). Ferdinand inherited his father’s passion for porcelain and, as a relatively young man of twenty, he charged the Brigadier Marquis Ricci with the task of creating a new factory at the Royal Villa at Portici, appointing him as director. At the same time Ferdinand also ordered that all the remaining porcelain, tools and machinery from his father’s original factory be brought to the Royal Palace at Naples where the methods of Charles’ original porcelain production were deduced. Construction of the new factory commenced in September 1771 and finished in February 1772 whereupon production began.

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Sadly, soon after the completion of this new factory, Ricci died. He was succeeded, as director, by the Spaniard, Thomas Perez, an official to the First Secretary of State. The modelers at this time were Francesco Celebrano and Francesco Chiari, and the painters included Carlo Coccorese who had originally worked in Charles’ factory prior to its destruction and, through a series of misfortunes, had returned from Spain finding work and recognition finally under Perez. Perez also increased the staff, employing in particular Saverio Grue, son of the painter Francesco Antonio Grue. Saverio was renowned not only for his painting abilities but also for his porcelain sculpture.

In this period the shape, style and decoration of the porcelain production was similar to that of the original Capodimonte factory. The factory output was relatively small employing few artists and the production was destined either for the Court or for visiting royalty or nobility.

In 1779 Domenico Venuti replaced Perez as director of the Royal Factory. Under Venuti’s orders other remains of Charles’ original porcelain production which had been found abandoned at the Royal Palace of Portici, including plaster copies of Grecian busts found in the Herculaneum excavations, were brought to the Royal Palace of Naples to be used as models for the sculptors and painters. Venuti also proposed the creation of a special academy, the Academy of the Nude (l’Accademia del Nudo), which Ferdinand duly founded in December 1781.

The aim of this academy was to return to the study of the antique and pure principles of art which, at that time, had been considered abandoned in favor of a more fashionable genre. One of the first artists to give lessons in this academy was Costanzo Angelini, whose studies and work of the nude occupy pride of place in Italian art together with those of the sculptor Antonio Canova.

Under Venuti’s able direction the production at the Royal Factory reached its zenith of artistic splendour becoming famous throughout Europe. Of particular note were the production of two porcelain cases for two table clocks which played minuets. These clocks represented two different themes, on one, the four empires of the world were represented, and on the other, the turn of night to day was represented. The sculpture and painting of these pieces were executed under the direction of Venuti and Giacomo Milani respectively. These clocks were so beautiful that two songs were written after their two creators.

In 1782 Ferdinand ordered the production of a special dinner service intended as a gift for his father, Charles III of Spain, and founder of the original Capodimonte factory. This service was decorated with images of the vases and pictures found in the Herculaneum excavations. A special ninety four page catalogue was also produced by Venuti and Vincenzo Flauti.

These gifts, accompanied by two artists involved in their production, Giacomo Milani and Antonio Cioffi, were sent to Spain to the Spanish Court. Their reception, however, was fairly cold. The hospitality and appreciation of the Spanish King and Court was found wanting, the artists were not even permitted to present their work to the King. They returned to Naples offended and disappointed.

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In 1785, however, Ferdinand ordered the production of another special "Etruscan" dinner service for George III, King of England. Ferdinand also required the production of a publication in which Venuti was to describe the decoration of the service in French. Gaetano Carcani, the director of the Royal Press was ordered to print one hundred copies of the book on Imperial Paper and a further six copies on Dutch Paper. The service was finished in April 1785 and the printing in May of the same year.

The Royal Factory eventually moved to Spain with King Charles and then several decades later under the direction of his son, Ferdinand, another Capodimonte factory was established in Naples. During this period, the shape, style and decoration of the porcelain production were similar to those made at the original Capodimonte factory, but there were some differences.

For instance, the figurines made in Ferdinand’s Capodimonte factory took on more lifelike characteristics and tended to reflect the royal court rather than everyday life. More utilitarian wares like dinner sets moved away from pastoral decor to city scenes and those reflecting the excavation and history of Pompeii, for example.

Ferdinand’s factory also used the first blue crown and Neopolitan N mark in the late 1700’s, whereas his father’s earlier marks were a number of variations of the fleur-di-lis depending on the age of the piece in question. The "Golden Age of Capodimonte" ended when Ferdinand’s factory closed in the early 1800’s (some sources indicate 1817, others purport 1834).

Porcelain cups and saucers and similar ornamental wares decorated with mythological scenes in relief and colored were not at any time made here but were produced at the Doccia factory. The Bourbon fleur-de-lis, impressed or painted, was the factory mark (the same mark subsequently used by Buen Retiro), though it was seldom used.

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The CapoDiMonte Museum, "Museo di Capodimonte" is located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting, and some important ancient Roman sculptures.

The vast collection can trace its origins back to 1738, when King Charles VII of Naples and Sicily (later Charles III, king of Spain) decided to build a hunting lodge on the Capodimonte hill, but then decided that he would instead build a grand palace, partly because his existing residence, the Palace of Portici, was too small to accommodate his court, and partly because he needed somewhere to house the fabulous Farnese art collection which he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, last descendant of the sovereign ducal family of Parma.

Over the years the palace was enlarged and filled with more art. In 1787, on the advice of Jacob Philipp Hackert, a laboratory for the restoration of paintings was created.

When the Parthenopaean Republic was declared in 1799, Ferdinand fled to Palermo on board Nelson’s Vanguard, taking the most valuable items from the museum with him. What remained was looted by the French troops of General Championnet who were billeted there. During the ten years of French occupation (1806 to 1815), the art collection was transferred to the Naples National Archaeological Museum. When King Ferdinand returned from Sicily in 1815, he employed many painters and sculptors to work on the redecoration of the palace. It was finally completed in 1840, and a gallery housing contemporary art was added.

After the palace passed in 1861 to the House of Savoy, further pieces were added to the art collections, appointing Domenico Morelli as consultant for new acquisitions. They also added an extensive collection of historic firearms and other weapons. In 1866, the boudoir of Maria Amalia of Saxony was transferred to Capodimonte from the Palace of Portici, and in 1877 a Roman era marble floor was brought in from a Roman villa on Capri.

After the end of the monarchy, the palace became purely a national museum in 1950, with many of the exhibits being returned from the National Museum.

Porcelain of varying quality continues to be made under the Capodimonte name in Italy, both in the Naples area and at other locations. The modern production includes figurines and heavily decorated vases, urns, chandeliers, and other objects. Realistic floral designs, including individual blossoms, are widely identified with the Capodimonte name.

Production during the past 100 years has spread to China, South Korea, Spain, Germany, France, and other world-wide locations of independently owned factories. Dinnerware sets and tea cups are no longer manufactured by any of the factories worldwide. Production within the U.S.A. has never occurred prior to the US based corporation CapoDiMonte, Inc. which recently opened their manufacturing factories in America. Their primary initial focus will be the reviving of dinnerware designed in the tradition of the finest bone china art designs from the 1700’s and 1800’s.