CIRCA 1724, BLUE ENAMEL CROSSED SWORDS MARK, GILDER'S 20. MARK

The present bowl, from the important King Umberto II of Italy sale at Christie’s Geneva in 1968, may possibly be one of the items which was given in 1725 by Augustus ‘the Strong’, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, to his friend Vittorio Amadeo II, King of Sardinia, in Turin. The 1725 gift is exceptional and important as it was one of the earliest and most prestigious diplomatic gifts to include Meissen porcelain.¹ The Meissen porcelain in the gift included newer pieces which had been made shortly before the gift took place (such as the famous armorial tea and chocolate-service painted by J.G. Höroldt),² and older pieces, including Böttger-period stoneware and Böttger-period porcelain which had been selected from the Japanese Palace in Dresden (see lot 78).

The surviving shipping lists for the items which were sent to Turin in 1725 record what Meissen porcelain was sent, but the descriptions are less precise than the Japanese Palace inventory descriptions, and unlike the palace inventory, the shipping list entries do not include dimensions, making precise identifications more difficult.³ The present bowl appears to have been painted in about 1724, making it a possible candidate for inclusion in the 1725 gift. The shipping lists record a number of services decorated with gold ornament and Japanischen Figuren (Japanese figures) which included waste-bowls (or rinsing-bowls), described variously as Spühl Compen, Spühlnapff and SpühlCompen. It is very probable that the present bowl once belonged to one of these services, but it is not absolutely certain.⁴

The shipping lists illustrate that the gift from Augustus was larger and more prestigious than most diplomatic gifts, consisting of about 300 individual items which had to be shipped in twelves crates. The shipment included five 7-vase garnitures, nine boxed coffee, tea and chocolate-services, two small table-services, other wares, chamber-pots and prize horses.

The painting on the exterior of this bowl is of exceptional quality, and it appears to have been painted by Höroldt himself, like the famous armorial service which was sent to the King of Sardinia as part of the gift (see note 2 below). The figures standing either side of a table on this bowl are adapted from sheet 35 of Höroldt’s Schulz Codex, the sketchbook which was used as a source of inspiration for the artists in his workshop.

1. For a discussion of the gift, see Julia Weber, “‘…that other nations must be amazed by it…’ Saxon Porcelain in European Diplomacy” in Ulrich Pietsch and Claudia Banz (Eds.), Triumph of the Blue Swords, Porzellansammlung, Zwinger, Dresden Exhibition Catalogue, 2010, pp. 152-155. Also see
Cassidy-Geiger [Ed.], Fragile Diplomacy: Meissen Porcelain for European Courts ca. 1710-63, Bard Graduate Center November 2007-February 2008 Exhibition Catalogue, 2007, pp. 14-15 and pp. 208-211; and also see Ingelore Menzhausen, ‘Ein Porzellangeschenk Augusts Der Starken für den König von Sardinien’ in Keramos No. 119, 1988, pp. 99-102.
2. The principal part of this armorial service, which was previously thought to have been lost, was sold from the collection of a ‘Member of the Royal House of Savoy’ by Christie’s, London, on 4 July 2019, lot 104.
3. Documents HStA13458, currently on loan to the Porzellansammlung, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Archives (‘Verschiedene Specificationen und Belege über Zu-und Abgänge 1700-1876’), ‘Nachrichten von den Sächssischen Porcellain so im Monath Septemb: Anno 1725 nach Turin ist geschicket worden.’ A transcription of the full shipping list of what was sent is published by Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, ibid., 2007, pp. 327-331.
4. Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, ibid., 2007, p. 328, No. 38, which was a boxed service decorated mit goldenen Zierrathen, und Japanischen Figuren fein emaillirt (with gold decoration and enamelled with fine Japanese figures); p. 329, case No. 10, No. 27, was 2 kleinere Compen (smaller bowls), which were decorated mit Japanischen bunt emaillirten Farben, und Figuren (with brightly enamelled Japanese colours, and figures); p. 330, No. 40 where a bowl is part of a service decorated mit Goldenen Zierrathen und bunten Japanischen Figuren, fein emaillirt (with gold borders and colourful Japanese figures, finely enamelled); p. 330, folio 2, where there are 7 bowls decorated with Japanischen Figuren und Landtschafften (Japanese figures and landscapes, so it may not be these as the present bowl doesn’t really include landscapes); and the final entry for the gift on p. 331, which includes a bowl in a service decorated mit Gold und bunten Japonischen [sic] Figures en miniature emaillirt (enamelled with gold and colourful Japanese figures in miniature).