SOME OF THE GREATEST ROYAL DINNER SERVICES TO GRACE A TABLE HEAD BONHAMS SALE OF EUROPEAN CERAMICS Our Coverage Sponsored by Liz Barbatelli's The Laundry at Linens Limited and E. Braun & Co. in Beverly Hills
23 May 2012 10:30 a.m. London, New Bond Street
37
A Meissen yellow-ground plate from the 'Gelbe Jagdservice', circa 1733-34
Reserved with a lobed panel in the centre painted with a phoenix and three sprigs of indianische Blumen, three quatrelobe panels around the brown-edged rim painted with flowering branches, 22.8cm diam, crossed swords marks in underglaze-blue, incised Japanese Palace inventory numbers N=148-/ W, impressed Dreher's mark of a cross within a circle for Johann Christoph Pietzsch (small areas of stacking wear to yellow ground, very small haircrack to rim) (2)
Estimate:
£10,000 - 15,000
€12,000 - 18,000
US$ 16,000 - 24,000
****Footnotes
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Most people needing a dinner service might pop down to John Lewis, Harvey Nicks or Marks and Spencer and if they are really pushing the boat out may go to Harrods.
Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Lithuania did things differently. He commissioned Meissen to produce some of the most lavish and sophisticated dinner services ever made. Today largely split up and distributed world wide, every plate or cup from these famous dinner services causes excitement when they appears on the market for sale. Some of these items, known as white gold in their heyday were stored in what was called the Japanese Palace in Dresden that Augustus built to house his finest porcelain.
Bonhams sale of a European private collection of Meissen porcelain on 23rd May in London offers an opportunity to observe what a collector with a particularly fine eye for the best Meissen porcelain managed to assemble.
Lot 39 is a Meissen armorial dish from the 'Coronation Service', circa 1733-34, painted with the arms of Saxony and Poland and scattered floral sprigs and bound wheat-sheaves, estimated to sell for £10,000-15,000. It comes from the Royal collections of Saxony, Japanese Palace, Dresden.
The 'Coronation Service' was probably ordered for the coronation of Friedrich August II of Saxony as king (Augustus III) of Poland in Cracow on 17th January 1734. The service - the first Meissen armorial table service - was presumably intended only for display on a buffet, as silver was used on the royal table. The service was delivered to the Japanese Palace in Dresden in 1734.
Another exciting item that will enthuse collectors is lot 37, a Meissen yellow-ground plate from the 'Gelbe Jagdservice', (Yellow hunting service) circa 1733-34 with a lobed panel in the centre painted with a phoenix and three sprigs of flowers, three quatrelobe panels around the brown-edged rim painted with flowering branches, crossed swords it is estimated to sell for £10,000-15,000.
This service is the only Meissen dinner service known to have a coloured background. It was ordered around 1730 by Augustus the Strong, and later became known as the "yellow hunting service", because of the similarity of the ground colour to the livery of the Saxon court huntsmen.
Sebastian Kuhn, Director of European Ceramics at Bonhams, comments: “These are not plates for everyday use, nor even for scrambled egg on Mother’s Day. They are almost beyond price and value, something to amaze and delight lovers of European history with which they were so inextricably tied up – used as diplomatic gifts, and status symbols. They speak of another time and other values, of art and excellence and privilege. Given their fragility each one is a miracle of survival.”
Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and a further three in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Connecticut in the USA; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments go to www.bonhams.com.
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This service is the only Meissen dinner-service known to have a coloured ground. It was ordered around 1730 by Augustus the Strong, and later became known as the "yellow hunting service", because of the similarity of the ground colour to the livery of the Saxon court parforce huntsmen (U. Pietsch/ C. Banz. Triumph der blauen Schwerter (2010), p. 96). According to a delivery specification (published by C. Boltz, Japanisches Palais-Inventar 1770, in Keramos 153 (1996), p. 91), the service was delivered to the Japanese Palace in 1734 on the instruction of Augustus III, and originally consisted of 82 pieces including 39 plates. The 1770 inventory of the Japanese Palace records under 148: 'Tin Tafel Service, mit gelber(ner) Glasur und weißen Schildern, worein bunte Blumen und Vögel gemahlt... [a table service with yellow glaze and white panels in which are painted coloured flowers and birds...]. A note in the inventory records that one plate was broken in two on 2 September 1777 at a dinner for the King of Prussia in Christinenstadt (Boltz, ibid., p. 76).
A closely similar plate as well as a tureen and fluted dish from the same service are exhibited in the Royal Collection in Dresden (Pietsch / Banz, ibid., p. 97). Two plates were sold in the Johanneum Duplicate Sale, Dresden 1920, lots 145 and 146; a plate from the Deane Johnson Collection, Bel Air, was sold by Sotheby's New York, 9 December 1972, lot 67; another by Christie's Geneva, 9 May 1988, lot 63; another plate was sold by Christie's London on 14 July 2006, lot 84.
Another very similar plate from the same service is in the Dr. Ernst Schneider Collection in the Lustheim Castle (A. Schommers/ M. Grigat-Hunger, Meißener Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts (2004), no. 52), and further plates are in the Arnhold Collection, New York (M. Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain (2008), nos. 185a-b), and in the Hoffmeister Collection (D. Hoffmeister, Meissen Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts: Sammlung Hoffmeister (1999), vol. II, no. 272).
