place settings and up to 500 separate parts, complemented by elaborate table centrepieces. In addition, most of his diplomatic presents came from the manufactory, and they were to be found at the court of the tsars in Russia and on the tables of European aristocracy. The factory was mainly known in this period for dinner services, with a fine white porcelain body with "a faint yellowish, slightly grey tinge". As would remain the case, the painting in overglaze enamel was of very high quality. The services’ design and colouring was meticulously created to match the interior decoration of the rooms in which they were to be used. Frederick commissioned the first KPM table service in 1765 for the New Palace, Potsdam. The dinner service known as Reliefzierat was designed in the Rococo style by modelling master Friedrich Elias Meyer, who would later design many more services for the king. The ornamentation of the relief, made of gilded rocailles and flower espaliers, finds its counterpart in the stucco ceiling of the New Palace. The following years saw the appearance of the Neuzierat, Neuglatt, Neuosier and Antique Zierat (later named Rocaille) dinner services, which are still produced today. In 1784, after a four-year development period, the king's desire for a soft and delicate shade of blue was fulfilled. The colour was known as Bleu mourant ("dying blue"), and it was used to decorate Neuzierat, Frederick's favourite dinner service. The colour was predominant in the king's private chambers at Sanssouci Palace and in the blue chamber of the New Palace in Potsdam, as well as in other castles. Classicism Towards the end of the century Neoclassical designs were introduced, beginning another enduring feature of the factory; this began in the 1770s, so preceding Frederick the Great's death in 1786, despite his own preference for Rococo styles. The cheerful soft-brush forms of Rococo gave way to the harder lines of Neoclassicism. Frederick the Great's successor, his nephew Frederick William II was not much interested in the factory, but it continued to flourish. He obtained what he needed in the way of porcelain from KPM, but stopped paying cash. The amounts due were deducted from his share of the profits. From 1787 onwards, the average annual net profit came to more than 40,000 thaler. In 1790, a dinner service in the new style was designed by KPM: KURLAND, which has been one of the greatest