Science
The Soldier-Vase Exchange: How 600 Cavalrymen Were Traded for 151 Porcelain Vases
In 1717, Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, traded 600 of his elite cavalrymen to Prussia in exchange for a collection of 151 priceless Chinese porcelain vessels. This extraordinary swap epitomized the 'maladie de porcelaine' or porcelain sickness, a period in 18th-century Europe when ceramic acquisitions became a primary marker of state power and prestige.