King Augustus the Strong: Patron, Power-Seeker, and Porcelain-Obsessed Tyrant
The Porcelain Menagerie is out now!
In The Porcelain Menagerie, Jillian Forsberg brings to life a world of beauty, intrigue, and danger, centered around the historical figure of King Augustus II the Strong of Poland and Saxony. Augustus, who reigned from 1697 to 1733 (with a brief interruption), is remembered for his extraordinary physical strength, extravagant court, and ruthless pursuit of personal ambition. Yet, behind his gilded palaces and cultural achievements lies a man whose obsessions often crossed moral boundaries—particularly his fascination with porcelain and the darker entertainments of his court.
Born Frederick Augustus I, Elector of Saxony, in 1670, Augustus acquired the nickname "the Strong" for his remarkable physical prowess. Contemporary accounts describe him breaking horseshoes with his bare hands (something that happens in the novel) and engaging in feats of sheer strength that bordered on the theatrical (Wikipedia). One particularly notorious display was his participation in The Fox Toss (Fuchsprellen), a cruel court entertainment in which hundreds of foxes, hares, badgers, and other animals were tossed into the air by courtiers holding the ends of a carpet or sling. Augustus himself would hold the end with just a finger while two of his strongest men held the other, demonstrating his prowess in a game that was lethal for the animals involved (Blanning, 2024). This cruelty illustrates the darker side of his personality and provides a chilling backdrop for the fictionalized court in Forsberg’s novel.
Yet Augustus was far more than a brute. His political and cultural ambitions shaped much of Central Europe in the early 18th century. As Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, he sought to consolidate power, often using foreign alliances to counterbalance the fragmented authority of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Wikipedia; Blanning, 2024). Though his political maneuvers frequently backfired, resulting in military failures and popular unrest, Augustus remained a formidable figure on the European stage, demonstrating both charm and cunning when negotiating his position.
It was Augustus’ fascination with luxury and prestige that led him to the pursuit that would define his historical and cultural legacy: porcelain. European elites had long coveted East Asian porcelain, yet the secret of its manufacture eluded them. In 1701, Augustus orchestrated the capture of Johann Friedrich Böttger, a young alchemist, effectively imprisoning him in Dresden to extract the secret of gold-making. While Böttger never produced gold, his alchemical experiments evolved into the successful development of hard-paste porcelain, culminating in the founding of the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen in 1709 (Wikipedia). Augustus’ collection grew prodigiously: by the end of his life, he owned tens of thousands of Meissen and East Asian pieces, rivaling the most ambitious art collections of Europe. As Tim Blanning in Augustus the Strong, Ruler of Poland and Saxony (2024) notes, Augustus once remarked, “Those who have caught the craze for oranges or porcelain can never have enough of one or the other.”
Porcelain figurines made by Johann Kändler
Forsberg’s The Porcelain Menagerie cleverly exploits this obsession, turning it into a source of tension and menace. In the novel, Augustus’ fixation on lifelike porcelain sculptures becomes a tool of control and manipulation, testing the skills and endurance of artists like Johann Kändler, who struggles to meet the king’s impossible standards. The historical truth—that Augustus was ruthless in the pursuit of perfection and indulgence—is heightened in the novel to highlight the stakes for those living under his power. Readers witness a ruler whose artistic vision is inseparable from his authoritarian impulses: beauty is demanded, and disobedience or failure is not tolerated.
Yet Augustus’ cruelty was not limited to porcelain or politics. His court became infamous for extravagant and often brutal entertainments. Beyond fox tossing, his hunting practices included relentless chases of deer and stags, sometimes leaving animals to die from exhaustion before being dispatched by the king or his guests (Blanning, 2024). Such acts were intended to display power, control, and prowess, reinforcing Augustus’ image as both physically and socially dominant. In Forsberg’s narrative, these historical realities are woven into the story to underscore the danger of life at court, where even artistic mastery is inseparable from the whims of a potentially capricious ruler.
Augustus’ personal life was as elaborate as his political and cultural ambitions. Though often exaggerated in contemporary gossip, his relationships with mistresses and illegitimate children have become part of his enduring legend (Wikipedia; Blanning, 2024). In the novel, these details enrich the setting, showing a court where human relationships, desire, and ambition intertwine dangerously with art and spectacle.
King Augustus the Strong
The historical Augustus was also a visionary in terms of cultural development. He transformed Dresden into a major center of European art and architecture, commissioning grand palaces such as the Zwinger, Moritzburg, and Pillnitz Castles, and establishing public museums like the Green Vault (Wikipedia). These accomplishments are reflected in Forsberg’s vivid descriptions, which bring to life not just the opulence but also the tension of living in such a world, where extraordinary beauty masks cruelty and personal danger.
Augustus II the Strong emerges as both an historical figure of fascination and a natural antagonist in The Porcelain Menagerie. His obsessive pursuit of perfection, love of spectacle, and casual cruelty toward animals and subjects alike provide the perfect foil for Forsberg’s protagonists. By weaving historical fact—his porcelain obsession, The Fox Toss, and extravagant court life—into the narrative, the novel offers readers a compelling portrait of a king whose brilliance and brutality were inseparable. Augustus’ legacy is complex: a ruler whose name evokes strength, cultural achievement, and fear, whose reign provides both the foundation and the perilous backdrop for Forsberg’s richly imagined Dresden.
Sources:
Blanning, Tim. Augustus the Strong, Ruler of Poland and Saxony: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco. Allen Lane, 2024.
Wikipedia contributors. “Augustus II the Strong.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_II_the_Strong
About the Author
Jillian Forsberg is a historian and author with a master’s degree in public history from Wichita State University. Her research on little-known historical events led her to discover the true story behind her first novel, The Rhino Keeper. In addition to being the former editor for Wichita State’s The Fairmont Folio, Jillian is an essayist whose articles have been published in academic journals.
Learn the story behind Johann Kändler, the porcelain maker in Forsberg’s first novel The Rhino Keeper
“Forsberg’s evocative sophomore novel, The Porcelain Menagerie is an engrossing, page-turning historical novel which plumbs the depths of possession, resistance and survival against the backdrop of 18th century Dresden. I could not put it down.”
–Jess Armstrong, USA Today best selling author of The Curse of Penryth Hall
