CIRCA 1730, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK TO BOTH PIECES

Details

A MEISSEN PORCELAIN FIGURE OF A CHINESE MAN IN AN ARBOUR
CIRCA 1730, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK TO BOTH PIECES
Modelled by Georg Fritzsche, seated with his left hand outstretched, his hat and right hand resting on his right knee, wearing a loose purple-lined turquoise tunic with iron-red Chinese motifs, fitted onto a pierced rockwork arbour enriched with splashes of brown, purple and turquoise and applied with flowering and berried vine
9 ½ in. (24.1 cm.) high overall

Provenance

Franz and Margarete Oppenheimer, Berlin by 1927;
Fritz Mannheimer, Amsterdam, included in an involuntary sale by the above, by 1938;
Confiscated by the 'Dienststelle Mühlmann', 1941, following the occupation of The Netherlands.
Recovered by Monuments, Fine Art and Archives Section, Munich Central Collecting Point, 29 June 1946 (MCCP no. 1626/6, the figure only);
Returned to the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, The Netherlands, Amsterdam, 15 November 1946;
Mannheimer Collection sale, Müller & Co., Amsterdam, 14-21 October 1952, lot 369.
The Hon. Mrs Nellie Lonides, Buxted Park, sold by Sotheby’s, London, 7 July 1964, lot 152.
With Newman & Newman, London;
Anon. sale, Galerie Koller, Zürich, 7-13 May 1981, lot 2978;
Anon. sale, Sotheby’s, London, 2 June 2005, lot 16;
Acquired by the current owner, by whom restituted to the Estate of Dr Franz Oppenheimer, 2018 (the figure only).

The figure is being offered for sale pursuant to a settlement agreement between the consignor and the Estate of Franz Oppenheimer. This resolves any dispute over ownership of the work and title will pass to the buyer.

Literature

Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Sammlung Margarete und Franz Oppenheimer, 1927, no. 30, plate 4.

Sale room notice

The figure is being offered for sale pursuant to a settlement agreement between the consignor and the Estate of Franz Oppenheimer. This resolves any dispute over ownership of the work and title will pass to the buyer. Additional provenance is available in the online cataloguing.

Further provenance:

Franz and Margarete Oppenheimer, Berlin by 1927;
Fritz Mannheimer, Amsterdam, included in an involuntary sale by the above, by 1938;
Confiscated by the 'Dienststelle Mühlmann', 1941, following the occupation of The Netherlands.
Recovered by Monuments, Fine Art and Archives Section, Munich Central Collecting Point, 29 June 1946 (MCCP no. 1626/6, the figure only);
Returned to the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, The Netherlands, Amsterdam, 15 November 1946;
Mannheimer Collection sale, Müller & Co., Amsterdam, 14-21 October 1952, lot 369.
The Hon. Mrs Nellie Ionides, Buxted Park, sold by Sotheby’s, London, 7 July 1964, lot 152.
With Newman & Newman, London;
Anon. sale, Galerie Koller, Zürich, 7-13 May 1981, lot 2978;
Anon. sale, Sotheby’s, London, 2 June 2005, lot 16;
Acquired by the current owner, by whom restituted to the Estate of Dr Franz Oppenheimer, 2018 (the figure only).

Brought to you by

Paul Gallois

pgallois@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2260

Lot Essay

An example of this rare model from the Irwin Untermyer collection is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, museum no. 64.101.41. The figure may depict Shou Lao, the Chinese god of longevity, his flowing beard and baldpate symbolic of his long life and wisdom. The dragons depicted on his robes symbolise power, strength and good luck.

It is interesting to compare the present example with the figure formerly in the Englehard Collection, sold by Christie's, New York, on 18 March 2005, lot 27 and now in the Arnhold Collection; see M. Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain 1710-50, London, 2005, pp. 254-5, no. 43, for the similar but smaller bearded figure by Fritzsche, the sage wearing his hat rather than crumpling it in his hand like the present example.

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