Lot Essay
The arms are those of Poland quartering those of Lithuania accole with those of the Archmarshalship of the Holy Roman Empire impaling those of Saxony, as borne by Frederick Augustus I, Elector of Saxony and, as Augustus II, King of Poland, known as "the Strong" on account of his immense physical stature and prowess.
"The ever-cheerful Man of Sin," as Thomas Carlyle described him, Augustus the Strong was the second son of John George III, Elector of Saxony, and was born in Dresden in 1670. He was not brought up to rule, but spent his early life travelling and fighting the French until, on the sudden death of his brother in 1694, he became Elector of Saxony. When John Sobieski died in 1696, he converted to Catholicism - a step strongly resented by his Saxon subjects - in order to further his chances of becoming King of Poland, prompting his wife, Christine Eberhardine, one of Hohenzollern family, to leave him. He deftly knocked out the other main contender, the reluctant Prince of Conti, and by swift action in invading the country, and lavish expenditure among the Polish nobles, he was duly elected king in September, 1697.
A man of gargantuan sensuality, his tastes were extravagant and luxurious. "To impress his dinner guests, he would pick up two of his state trumpeters ... and hold them out at arm's length while they played a fanfare." It was said that he kept a harem of beautiful women, and the Margravine of Bayreuth calculated that at his death he left 354 bastards. Among his descendants were Louis XVI and George Sand. He left however only one legitimate son, who succeeded him as Augustus II of Saxony and Augustus III of Poland.
Augustus the Strong devoted much of his time to improving the city of Dresden, continued by his son, and was instrumental in the development of the Meissen porcelain factory. It was said of Augustus that he was "Lutheran by birth, Catholic by ambition and Mahometan in his habits." He died in 1733 after a drinking bout. "Historians look with no good eye on Augustus the Strong and his son Augustus III who between them reduced the rich state of Saxony to penury in order to satisfy their craving for works of art. Beautiful Dresden under their rule was the most civilized town in the Empire" (Nancy Mitford, Frederick the Great, 1970, p. 33).
This plateau forms part of an extensive dinner service originally comprising some 270 vessels and 98 pieces of flatware commissioned by Augustus in or before 1718 for the wedding celebrations of the Crown Prince and Maria Josepha of Austria. The celebrations for the wedding, which took place in September 1719, lasted for four weeks. The service is listed in a 273-page inventory of the Silver Room of the Green Vaults dated June 30, 1723 - Inventory of the Vessels made of solid gold, of silver-gilt, silver or silver alloy, stored in the Royal Green Vaults. A number of the pieces are marked 'modern' and include the "silver dinner service with dull gilding (dopplet matt vergoldet) which His Royal Majesty had ordered from Augsburg in 1718." The service was subsequently added to in 1730 and again in 1733, the year of Augustus's death (J.-L. Sponsel, Das Grune Gewolbe zu Dresden, Dresden, 1928, vol. II, p. 216).
The order for the Crown Prince service went to several Augsburg dealers who "jobbed out" the commissions to various silversmiths, including Christian Winter and Gottlieb Menzel. It is clear from correspondence that has survived between Augustus and Graf Wackerbarth, his agent, that the King was greatly influenced by the massive silver and silver-gilt he had seen at Versailles as a young man on a visit there in 1687 and it is clear that by commissioning this service, one of the earliest complete dinner services, he was seeking to emulate Louis XIV. Fashions however had changed since 1687 and it is clear that Wackerbarth held Augustus's obsession with mixing silver and silver-gilt to be outmoded and remonstrated with the King that in candlelight it would look like a "castrum doloris." The King replied: "I do not doubt that Prince Eugene's furnishings are admired, but at Versailles, in the apartments and galleries, the mix of silver tables, gueridons, lustres and vases with mouldings of silver-gilt did not resemble a "castrum doloris" (December 1718, quoted in F. O'Byrn, Die Hof-Silberkammer und die Hof-Kellerei zu Dresden, Dresden, 1880, pp. 91-93).
Some time after the abdication of Frederick Augustus III, the last King of Saxony, in 1918, much that survived of the Crown Prince service was sold. Circular dishes and covers from the service have appeared on the market occasionally in recent years, most notably a pair by Menzel (1717-18) and Winter (1729-30) sold from the collection of Antenor Patino in these Rooms, October 28, 1986, lot 260. Other dishes and covers are in the collections of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (on loan from the Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechsel-Bank AG), the Musee National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, and the Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio. For a comprehensive listing of known dishes and covers from the service, see Lorenz Seelig, "Die Tafel als Kunstwerk: Augsburger Silberservice fur Zaren, Konige und Reichsfursten" in Silber und Gold: Augsburger Goldschmiedekunst fur die Hofe Europas, ex. cat., Munich, 1994, pp. 503-504.
"The ever-cheerful Man of Sin," as Thomas Carlyle described him, Augustus the Strong was the second son of John George III, Elector of Saxony, and was born in Dresden in 1670. He was not brought up to rule, but spent his early life travelling and fighting the French until, on the sudden death of his brother in 1694, he became Elector of Saxony. When John Sobieski died in 1696, he converted to Catholicism - a step strongly resented by his Saxon subjects - in order to further his chances of becoming King of Poland, prompting his wife, Christine Eberhardine, one of Hohenzollern family, to leave him. He deftly knocked out the other main contender, the reluctant Prince of Conti, and by swift action in invading the country, and lavish expenditure among the Polish nobles, he was duly elected king in September, 1697.
A man of gargantuan sensuality, his tastes were extravagant and luxurious. "To impress his dinner guests, he would pick up two of his state trumpeters ... and hold them out at arm's length while they played a fanfare." It was said that he kept a harem of beautiful women, and the Margravine of Bayreuth calculated that at his death he left 354 bastards. Among his descendants were Louis XVI and George Sand. He left however only one legitimate son, who succeeded him as Augustus II of Saxony and Augustus III of Poland.
Augustus the Strong devoted much of his time to improving the city of Dresden, continued by his son, and was instrumental in the development of the Meissen porcelain factory. It was said of Augustus that he was "Lutheran by birth, Catholic by ambition and Mahometan in his habits." He died in 1733 after a drinking bout. "Historians look with no good eye on Augustus the Strong and his son Augustus III who between them reduced the rich state of Saxony to penury in order to satisfy their craving for works of art. Beautiful Dresden under their rule was the most civilized town in the Empire" (Nancy Mitford, Frederick the Great, 1970, p. 33).
This plateau forms part of an extensive dinner service originally comprising some 270 vessels and 98 pieces of flatware commissioned by Augustus in or before 1718 for the wedding celebrations of the Crown Prince and Maria Josepha of Austria. The celebrations for the wedding, which took place in September 1719, lasted for four weeks. The service is listed in a 273-page inventory of the Silver Room of the Green Vaults dated June 30, 1723 - Inventory of the Vessels made of solid gold, of silver-gilt, silver or silver alloy, stored in the Royal Green Vaults. A number of the pieces are marked 'modern' and include the "silver dinner service with dull gilding (dopplet matt vergoldet) which His Royal Majesty had ordered from Augsburg in 1718." The service was subsequently added to in 1730 and again in 1733, the year of Augustus's death (J.-L. Sponsel, Das Grune Gewolbe zu Dresden, Dresden, 1928, vol. II, p. 216).
The order for the Crown Prince service went to several Augsburg dealers who "jobbed out" the commissions to various silversmiths, including Christian Winter and Gottlieb Menzel. It is clear from correspondence that has survived between Augustus and Graf Wackerbarth, his agent, that the King was greatly influenced by the massive silver and silver-gilt he had seen at Versailles as a young man on a visit there in 1687 and it is clear that by commissioning this service, one of the earliest complete dinner services, he was seeking to emulate Louis XIV. Fashions however had changed since 1687 and it is clear that Wackerbarth held Augustus's obsession with mixing silver and silver-gilt to be outmoded and remonstrated with the King that in candlelight it would look like a "castrum doloris." The King replied: "I do not doubt that Prince Eugene's furnishings are admired, but at Versailles, in the apartments and galleries, the mix of silver tables, gueridons, lustres and vases with mouldings of silver-gilt did not resemble a "castrum doloris" (December 1718, quoted in F. O'Byrn, Die Hof-Silberkammer und die Hof-Kellerei zu Dresden, Dresden, 1880, pp. 91-93).
Some time after the abdication of Frederick Augustus III, the last King of Saxony, in 1918, much that survived of the Crown Prince service was sold. Circular dishes and covers from the service have appeared on the market occasionally in recent years, most notably a pair by Menzel (1717-18) and Winter (1729-30) sold from the collection of Antenor Patino in these Rooms, October 28, 1986, lot 260. Other dishes and covers are in the collections of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (on loan from the Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechsel-Bank AG), the Musee National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, and the Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio. For a comprehensive listing of known dishes and covers from the service, see Lorenz Seelig, "Die Tafel als Kunstwerk: Augsburger Silberservice fur Zaren, Konige und Reichsfursten" in Silber und Gold: Augsburger Goldschmiedekunst fur die Hofe Europas, ex. cat., Munich, 1994, pp. 503-504.