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Lot Essay
This spectacular candelabra is from the famous 'Swan Service', which was made for Heinrich Graf von Brühl (1700-1763), Prime Minister of Saxony and Director of the Meissen factory from 1733-63. The service had large four-light candelabrum and small candlesticks for single candles.
The aquatic theme of the service's decoration is a play on the name Brühl, meaning ‘watery’. The design of the small figural candlesticks was based upon a 1728 design by the Parisian sculptor and goldsmith Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier (1695-1750). Philippe-Louis Compagnon-Desplaces engraved Meissonnier's design in three prints, showing the candlestick from three different angles.1 Meissonnier's design for the base of the candlestick has three shells, which relates to the bases of the larger candelabrum. These prints were first published in 1734 and were acquired by the factory shortly after. Most pieces of the service are painted with the marriage arms of Brühl and his wife, Maria Anna Franziska von Kolowrat-Krakowska (1712-1762), whom he married in April 1734. These arms appear multiple times on the grandest pieces, such as the present lot.
Kändler began work on the first clay models for the candelabrum sometime between August 1738 and July 1739. In two different entries to his work diary for these months he refers to a candelabra with figures and sea work, and a candelabra for Count von Brühl. His assistant Eberlein also mentions the piece in his work diary for September 1739, suggesting that it was around this later date that this specific candelabra model came to fruition.2
Comprising some 2,200 pieces, the service was the largest produced in the 18th century at Meissen. Its scale and ambition owes much to Brühl's position as Director of the Meissen porcelain factory (from 1733) and Oberdirektor (from 1739 until his death in 1763). He was particularly cunning as he sought the King’s approval when placing orders for his own personal collection, and once this was granted, he was then able to place his orders in the king’s name. This allowed him to avoid paying for them. In 1736, with the king’s approval, he placed the initial order for the service, for his personal use.
From about 1880 pieces were lent to museums in Dresden and Berlin, or passed to collectors, so that by 1900 only 1,400 pieces remained at the family's Silesian seat, Schloss Pförten. Many of the remaining pieces were either destroyed, or stolen in the Second World War. For another armorial example, see Ulrich Pietsch (ed.), Schwanenservice - Meissener Porzellan für Heinrich Graf von Brühl, May-August 2000 Exhibition Catalogue, Dresden, 2000, pp. 166-167, no. 40. Also see Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, From Barlow to Büggel, in Keramos, 119, 1988, pp. 54-68, for a discussion of the graphic sources for the service. For further information, see www.christies.com.
1. See Peter Fuhring, 'Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier and His Patrons' in Rococo, The Continuing Curve, 1730-2008, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York, March-July 2008 Exhibition Catalogue, New York, 2008, p. 34, fig. 14, and Gail S. Davidson, 'Ornament of Bizarre Imagination' in ibid., p. 46, figs. 6 and 7.
2. Cf. Ulrich Pietsch (ed.), ibid., 2000, p. 166.
The aquatic theme of the service's decoration is a play on the name Brühl, meaning ‘watery’. The design of the small figural candlesticks was based upon a 1728 design by the Parisian sculptor and goldsmith Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier (1695-1750). Philippe-Louis Compagnon-Desplaces engraved Meissonnier's design in three prints, showing the candlestick from three different angles.1 Meissonnier's design for the base of the candlestick has three shells, which relates to the bases of the larger candelabrum. These prints were first published in 1734 and were acquired by the factory shortly after. Most pieces of the service are painted with the marriage arms of Brühl and his wife, Maria Anna Franziska von Kolowrat-Krakowska (1712-1762), whom he married in April 1734. These arms appear multiple times on the grandest pieces, such as the present lot.
Kändler began work on the first clay models for the candelabrum sometime between August 1738 and July 1739. In two different entries to his work diary for these months he refers to a candelabra with figures and sea work, and a candelabra for Count von Brühl. His assistant Eberlein also mentions the piece in his work diary for September 1739, suggesting that it was around this later date that this specific candelabra model came to fruition.2
Comprising some 2,200 pieces, the service was the largest produced in the 18th century at Meissen. Its scale and ambition owes much to Brühl's position as Director of the Meissen porcelain factory (from 1733) and Oberdirektor (from 1739 until his death in 1763). He was particularly cunning as he sought the King’s approval when placing orders for his own personal collection, and once this was granted, he was then able to place his orders in the king’s name. This allowed him to avoid paying for them. In 1736, with the king’s approval, he placed the initial order for the service, for his personal use.
From about 1880 pieces were lent to museums in Dresden and Berlin, or passed to collectors, so that by 1900 only 1,400 pieces remained at the family's Silesian seat, Schloss Pförten. Many of the remaining pieces were either destroyed, or stolen in the Second World War. For another armorial example, see Ulrich Pietsch (ed.), Schwanenservice - Meissener Porzellan für Heinrich Graf von Brühl, May-August 2000 Exhibition Catalogue, Dresden, 2000, pp. 166-167, no. 40. Also see Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, From Barlow to Büggel, in Keramos, 119, 1988, pp. 54-68, for a discussion of the graphic sources for the service. For further information, see www.christies.com.
1. See Peter Fuhring, 'Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier and His Patrons' in Rococo, The Continuing Curve, 1730-2008, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York, March-July 2008 Exhibition Catalogue, New York, 2008, p. 34, fig. 14, and Gail S. Davidson, 'Ornament of Bizarre Imagination' in ibid., p. 46, figs. 6 and 7.
2. Cf. Ulrich Pietsch (ed.), ibid., 2000, p. 166.