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THE OTTO AND MAGDALENA BLOHM AND ERNESTO BLOHM COLLECTIONS The Blohm collection of early European porcelain was assembled by Otto and Magdalena Blohm between the time of their marriage in 1899 and Otto's death in 1944. Otto was born in Hamburg in 1870, the youngest of five brothers of a Lubeck merchant, whose father Georg Blohm had founded the family business in Venezuela in 1835. His wife, Magdalena, née Matthes, was born in 1879 and grew up in Dusseldorf in a cultured and artistic family (her brother was the painter Ernst Matthes). It's not quite clear what attracted Otto and Magdalena to collecting porcelain with the amount of time, energy, money, and passion they expended. However, as Magdalena lay dying of cancer in Caracas in early 1951, struggling to write a remembrance in the early hours of the morning, which was the only time of day she was lucid, Magdalena addressed the love of porcelain she shared with Otto. In her note she said "Born collectors, we met." Magdalena had been interested in porcelain as a young woman, and had acquired a Fürstenberg cat and two Russian cups from the artist Edvard von Gebhardt. Otto had assembled a large taxidermy collection of humming birds while in Venezuela. Moreover, she and Otto visited the antiquities fair on the Isle of Wight on their honeymoon in 1899, and made their first joint purchase there. Thus, it was a shared passion; and while the collection bears Otto's name, it is believed that every item purchased for the collection was chosen by consensus. This is non-trivial given that both Otto and Magdalena had strong personalities. Otto's growing absorption with the collection in his later years can be explained by the fact that he was hard of hearing, and became totally deaf by about age 50. He attributed his loss of hearing to the fact that as a young man of 21 in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, he suffered from malaria and had to take large doses of quinine. Magdalena's explanation is that during a revolution in Puerto Cabello, Otto, who was a noted horseman, attempted to jump a barricade and was thrown from his horse, hitting his head on the pavement edge, causing an indentation to his skull behind his ear. Regardless of whose theory is more accurate, his lack of hearing made Otto more sensitive to visual stimuli. For example, his daughter Beatrice said he always was drawn to a woman with a beautiful mouth. His hearing loss also isolated him, causing him to be more focused on the collection. Otto and Magdalena's interest in collecting porcelain was bolstered by the Great Exhibition at the Berlin Kunstgewerbe-Museum in 1904. Magdalena said "The specimens shown there...filled us with such enthusiasm that we felt compelled, as the youngest and humblest of collectors, to try to obtain admittance to this illustrious circle. We would have to learn a great deal...to become experts in our chosen field." They did this by befriending directors of the Hamburg Museum and other collectors, who were invited to their elegant home at 36 Havestehuder Weg on the Alster to discuss porcelain and to view their collection. They also were active at major auctions and took particular note on lost bids, where the piece had gone, and when it might resurface. For example, Magdalena claimed to have hesitated early in their collecting career on a Chelsea box and "had to wait almost forty years before we could at last acquire the same model." With the onset of the Second World War, life became more difficult for Otto and Magdalena. Their sons George and Ernesto were married and running the family business in Venezuela; and their daughter Beatrice, who had accompanied her parents on buying trips, was married and living in the U.S.A. Otto sent lengthy typed letters to each every week. His hearing was gone, and his business was doing poorly, forcing him to sell his faience collection to a family friend in Switzerland. He also became concerned for the safety of his beloved porcelain collection, which by then included over 470 items excluding the Chelsea toys. If he kept it at Harvestehuder Weg, it might be seized or destroyed by bombs, so he decided to move it. He had heavy-duty wooden trunks built to store the collection. To attract minimal attention, Otto made trips every other day or so to local merchants, particularly the liquor seller, to collect rags and paper, in which to wrap the porcelain. After carefully packing every piece and placing them all in the trunks, he hired a horse-drawn cart and drove the collection to a farm outside of Hamburg (probably his brother Herman's estate called Muggesfelde). There he is believed to have buried his treasure, before returning to Hamburg. As days went by, Otto was overcome by anxiety that the porcelain might be discovered by soldiers or destroyed by mortars. His unrest grew, and finally he was so undone that he drove a horse and cart back to the farm, retrieved the pieces and brought them back to Hamburg, where he stored them in his cellar. There they were safe, although Magdalena was burnt at one point when a fire bomb hit the house, causing a minor fire that extended to part of the basement. On 2nd November 1944, before he could be reunited with his children or make plans to remove the porcelain, Otto died of a stroke while on a Hamburg streetcar. As a sign of the severity of the times, the only people able to attend his interment were Magdalena and her friend the actress Maria Wimmer. Magdalena was left alone in the bomb-damaged house until 1946, when, with the help of her children and the American Red Cross, she was able to escape via Sweden to New York, carrying with her a suitcase that contained the Chelsea snuff-boxes she loved. How the porcelain collection was retrieved from Hamburg is less clear. The only people who knew the location of the porcelain were Magdalena and the children; Beatrice in America and George and Ernesto in Venezuela. Beatrice, who had been the most involved in her parents' collection, mentioned her predicament to Erich Warburg, a close friend of the family from Hamburg, who was a colonel in U.S. Army Intelligence. With Warburg's help, the porcelain was shipped to New York, and received by Magdalena and Beatrice. To their amazement, when the collection was unpacked, only one piece was damaged. When Beatrice related the story in later years to her grandchildren, her emphasis always was on this final detail. Whenever she told the story, she would look off into the distance and say "and when we unpacked the porzellan, not one piece was broken except one Meissen plate." While Otto loved his porcelain collection, he had planned for its disposition after his death. A portion is on permanent loan to the Hamburg Museum in appreciation of the effort of the museum directors, who had advised Otto and Magdalena when they started to collect. He asked that the remainder be sold at auction so that young collectors could enjoy the same excitement and love of beauty that the porcelain had brought to him and Magdalena. This was done in auctions in 1960 and 1961. Chrisite's now is offering the final part of the great collection, the pieces from the estates of Otto and Magdalena's daughter Beatrice Blohm von Rumohr and son Ernesto Blohm. Cai von Rumohr Andrea Angell Henrik Blohm Grandson Great Granddaughter Grandson After the Otto and Magdalena Collection sales in 1960 and 1961, Ernesto Blohm (1903-1970) continued to collect in the family tradition. Many of the lots from his collection had been in his parents' collection, and had passed through several hands before he managed to recover them, as can be seen in the provenance notes throughout this sale. He also added other pieces to his collection which had not previously belonged to his parents, like the Capodimonte scent-bottle (lot 66) for example. The majority of his pieces were sold at Christie's on 10th April 1989, and in the forward to the catalogue, the eminent dealer R. Williams described Ernesto as a "charming and discerning collector" who had a "wide-ranging taste similar to that of his parents - a penchant for objects of small size, such as scent bottles, boxes and other 'Galanterien', as well as the 'Commedia dell'Arte in a variety of factories...and so on".

A HAUSMALEREI TEAPOT AND COVER

CIRCA 172O, ALMOST CERTAINLY BÖTTGER

Details

A HAUSMALEREI TEAPOT AND COVER
CIRCA 172O, ALMOST CERTAINLY BÖTTGER
Of cylindrical form with a rounded shoulder and slightly tapering lower part, decorated in Schwarzlot and gilding by Ignaz Preissler with Indijanische Groteschenken, of Oriental and exotic figures at various pursuits with sceptres, ewers, incense-burners, sceptres and a horn, among tightly packed strapwork and foliage scrolls issuing flowers and cornucopiae and supporting vases, birds and ewers, divided at the centre by a moulded band, the spout formed as an ascending lizard with a bifurcated tail and four legs, perched at the shoulder with its head turned outwards, its 'bearded' face with black and gilt markings, its red mouth open, the handle formed as a descending lizard with a long arched body, with a bifurcated tail and four legs, its red mouth slightly open, the flat circular cover with similar scrolls, strapwork and birds about a recumbent lion finial (some very slight wear, handle broken off and restuck with small areas of old restoration, cover with chip to side of rim, further fritting to rim edge and small chip to ear of lion)
5¼ in. (13.3 cm.) high

Provenance

Otto and Magdalena Blohm Collection, sale Sotheby's London, 10th October 1961, lot 674, as du Paquier (£600 to Chester)
Beatrice Blohm von Rumohr Collection.

Literature

Robert Schmidt, Early European Porcelain as Collected by Otto Blohm (Munich, 1953), p. 90, no. 113.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Label on underside of teapot printed with no. 284.

This teapot is one of three known with this type of Schwarzlot decoration. Another, also once in the Blohm Collection, was sold by Sotheby's in the Blohm sale on 10th October 1961, lot 675, and again by Christie's on 21st June 1965, lot 28 as Chinese (at the time it was felt that the previous du Paquier attribution was unconvincing). This was slightly larger than the present example (14.6 cm. high) and had a silver replacement cover. The third (13.8 cm. high, with a replacement lizard's head terminal), is shortly to be offered by Sotheby's London on 2nd June 2005, lot 37.

Although the present teapot has been traditionally ascribed to du Paquier, there is a compelling argument that it is in fact Böttger. The model, after a Chinese original1, exists in Böttger stoneware (see 'Meissen Fruhzeit und Gegenwart', Exhibition Catalogue [Dresden, 1982], fig. 1/5), and the present teapot matches the Bøttger examples exactly. The refined quality of the modelling is much more akin to Böttger than du Paquier, and the porcelain body and flat unglazed base are also much more consistant with an attribution to Böttger than to du Paquier, where the undersides tend to have traces of glaze (see lot 129).

Pieces with this type of decoration have been published as du Paquier as well as Böttger2, and whether this type of decoration is absolutely exclusive to Ignaz (or Daniel) Preissler is not entirely clear. Of the pieces published as du Paquier with this type of decoration, few, if any, appear to be exclusively du Paquier forms, and it is still unclear if Ignaz Preissler definitely had access to du Paquier pieces for decoration. As Bohemia was under Austrian rule at the time, this would have made sense, but some authorities argue that it would more probable for him to have decorated pieces from Dresden, which was much closer.

Two signed two-handled beakers, published as du Paquier, which have similar decoration, appear to confuse the issue further, although some authorities have questioned their authenticity. One is signed IH and the other is signed JH3. In spite of the signatures, both are thought (by Pazaurek, Mrazek and Neuwirth) to be by Preissler, and not by Jakobus Helchis, the Viennese painter. The existence of a teapot (signed by Anreiter and decorated with Orientals) is intriguing because the cover is decorated with Laub-und-Bandelwerk in a manner very reminiscent of Preissler's4. Pazaurek argued that the cover does not belong to the teapot, whereas J.F. Hayward, however, argues otherwise5.

Little is known for certain of the style of decoration executed by Ignaz Preissler or his father, Daniel, as no signed examples of their work appear to exist. It is possible that a plate from the Ernesto Blohm Collection (sold in these Rooms on 10th April 1989, lot 35, whose border is extremely similar to the decoration of the present teapot), incorporates a mirrored signature, but opinion is divided about this. Ignaz Preissler (b. 1676) was employed as a hausmaler by Count Franz Karl Liebsteinsky von Kolowrat from 1716-1753 in Reichenau Castle, Kronstadt, in Bohemia. It is still unclear if Daniel (1636-1733), whose wife was born in Kronstadt (and who died in the Parish of Kronstadt), also worked for Count Kolowrat. 'Tobias', another painter (and accountant) working for Count Kolowrat, recorded that Ignaz Preissler decorated a great number of pieces, and that his many decorative motifs included 'Indijanische Groteschenken'.

Rudolf von Strasser mounts a convincing arguement for establishing Preissler's style of work in his article 'Twelve Preissler Glasses' Journal of Glass Studies, The Corning Museum of Glass (1973), Vol. XV, pp. 135-142, where he argues that these glasses represent a tangible basis for attribution of Preissler's work, as he had purchased the glasses (all decorated in Schwarzlot) from the descendants of Count Kolowrat who had employed Ignaz Preissler, and they are listed on the Castle's old inventories.

Two of the glasses are white tankards and covers. The Laub-und-Bandelwerk on the covers is very similar to the decoration of this teapot. The tankards themselves are decorated with Oriental figures in landscapes, and again, they are very close to the figures on this teapot, both in their facial features and their robes. The same tankards are illustrated with larger illustrations by Strasser and Walter Spiegel, 'Dekoriertes Glas' Katalog Raisonné der Sammlung Rudolf von Strasser (Munich, 1989), pp. 218-219, nos. 73 and 74.

For another discussion on Preissler, see Errol Manners, 'Dutch Fine Line and German Schwarlot Decoration' Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society (2000-2001), Vol. 65, pp. 135-142, and also see A. Müller-Hofstede, 'Der Schlesisch-Böhmisch Hausmaler Ignaz Preissler' Keramos no. 100 (1983), pp. 3-50.

The figures on the teapot bear a resemblance to those of Martin Engelbrecht's engravings, published in Augsburg in 1720 and Johann Christoph Weigel's engravings published in Nuremberg in 1710. See S. Ducret, Keramik und Graphik (Brunswick, 1973), p. 208, nos. 400 and 402, for a beaker decorated with Orientals and Weigel's graphic source. The Laub-und-Bandelwerk on this teapot is very close to the designs of Paul Decker. See Barbara Beaucamp-Markowsky, Boîtes en Porcelaine, des manufactures européennes au 18e siècle (Fribourg, 1985), p. 17 for two sheets from Decker's Neues sehr dienliches Goldschmids Büchlein darinnen unterschiedliche Arten von Taback und Poudre Bichsen, Sachtel Uhren auch andere Ornamenten engraved by Weigel and published in Augsburg in circa 1715; and see Ducret, ibid., p. 64, no. 21 for another sheet of Decker's designs.

1. For an illustration of the Chinese original form (used for wine and of slightly more slender cylindrical shape than the Böttger version) alongside a white Böttger porcelain example and a red stoneware Böttger example (both of slightly different sizes), see Ulrich Pietsch, Meissener Porzellan und seine ostasiatischen Vorbilder (Leipzig, 1996), p. 73, no. 13. A Chinese example decorated by Preissler in a similar manner is in the Grassimuseum, Leipzig.

2. Although the decoration on the pair of du Paquier vases from the Blohm Collection (See Schmidt, ibid., p. 91) is similar, the 'Indijanische Groteschenken' appear to be by a different hand, and they do not cover the surface as densely or boldly as they do on the three teapots. For a Böttger sake-bottle with similar decoration, see Pazaurek, ibid., Vol. I, p. 228, no. 194, and see p. 229 for other pieces with related decoration, and pl. 19 for Blohm pieces (including the vases mentioned above illustrated by Schmidt).

3. For the one signed IH, see Gustav E. Pazaurek, Deutsche Fayence-und Porzellan-Hausmaler [Leipzig, 1925], Vol. I, p. 235, no. 204). For the other, signed JH, see Wilhelm Mrazek and Waltraud Neuwirth, 'Wiener Porzellan 1718-1864' Exhibition Catalogue [n.d.], pl. 18, no. 98. A third example, from the Heinrich Lill Collection, with a JH signature and attributed to Helchis, is to be offered by the Dorotheum in Vienna on 31st May 2005, lot P2 (this is clearly not the work of Preissler).

4. See Siegfried Ducret, Keramik und Graphik (Brunswick, 1973), p. 190, nos. 343 and 344 for the teapot and the graphic source.

5. J.F. Hayward, Viennese Porcelain of the du Paquier Period (London, 1952), p. 148, and pl. 63b.

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