From December 2014 through February 2015, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco will exhibit a major private collection of the first, experimental decades of Meissen porcelain. Meissen products from 1710 to about 1750 transformed the social experience of dining, and they set design standards that we still live with 300 years later. The lecture will illustrate the social role of ceramics in early modern Europe. We will also discuss the technical issues involved in making porcelain and the interplay of technology and design during this breakthrough period.