Lot Essay
This beaker and saucer belong to a small and rare group of pieces painted with Carnival or Commedia dell'Arte figures which are thought to date to circa 1723, and which have largely been attributed to J.G. Höroldt. In August of the previous year Höroldt requested (by letter to Augustus the Strong) 'drawings from the latest volume depicting the Carnival', in order to 'paint the costumes and other details' (Betriebsarchiv Meissen, AA IA f5, fol. 313, see U. Pietsch, Early Meissen Porcelain Exhibition Catalogue, Lübeck, 1993, p. 46). The figure of Gandolin on the saucer is derived from a print by Le Blond after J. Falck, and details of both the saucer and the print are illustrated on p. 21.
For a two-handled beaker from the same service, see Siegfried Ducret, 'Vorbilder Für Porzellanmalereien', Keramos No. 44 69, April 1969, fig. 1. Two saucers from the Hoffmeister Collection with figures of a similar type by the same hand enclosed by three concentric red circles, rather than the two on the present lot, were sold by Bonhams, London, on 25 November 2009, lots 3 and 4, and are discussed and illustrated by Dieter Hoffmeister, Meissener Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts, Katalog der Sammlung Hoffmeister, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg (Hamburg, 1999), Vol. I, p. 36.
For a two-handled beaker from the same service, see Siegfried Ducret, 'Vorbilder Für Porzellanmalereien', Keramos No. 44 69, April 1969, fig. 1. Two saucers from the Hoffmeister Collection with figures of a similar type by the same hand enclosed by three concentric red circles, rather than the two on the present lot, were sold by Bonhams, London, on 25 November 2009, lots 3 and 4, and are discussed and illustrated by Dieter Hoffmeister, Meissener Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts, Katalog der Sammlung Hoffmeister, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg (Hamburg, 1999), Vol. I, p. 36.