Prussian king Frederick II had a passion for “white gold,” and in 1763 took over the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur from a Berlin businessman, Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The king gave the company its name, and allowed it to use his emblem, a cobalt-blue sceptre. Until the abdication of Emperor William II in 1918, KPM was owned by seven kings and emperors.