GERMAN PORCELAIN
MINIATURE FIGURES AND GROUPS FROM THE LUDWIGSBURG 'CARNAVAL DE VENISE'
One of the most adventurous undertakings in the story of European porcelain, the Ludwigsburg miniature Jahrmarkt is breathtaking in scale. There appears to be no precise count of the component parts. The pieces included in the Baden sale represented 112 different models. The examples now offered represent another 22 groups or figures germaine to the Jahrmarkt but not represented at Baden.
The production of this "dolls house" series highlights the immense economic difficulties surrounding the manufacture of European porcelain: none of the figures or groups in the series would appear to exist in more than four examples. This emphasises the limited clientele for such pieces and the high ratio of preparatory cost to eventual sales.
These figures and groups are traditionally associated with the divertissement given for his court by Duke Carl Eugen of Würtemburg. This fair was held in the Ludwigsburg market-place every year following the Duke's visit to Venice in 1767/8.
The models are after designs by G.F.P. Riedel. Some of them appear to pre-date the first year of the fair and are attributable to Jean Jacques Louis (head modeller as early as 1762) and the 'Elbs' modeller working 1760-65.
See the catalogue Alt Ludwigsburger Porzellan of the exhibition in Schloss Ludwigsburg, 1959, no. 118 et seq..
A Ludwigsburg miniature group of a couple quarrelling
CIRCA 1765, BLUE CROWNED INTERLACED C MARK, IRON-RED PAINTER'S ARROW AND CIRCLE
Details
A Ludwigsburg miniature group of a couple quarrelling
Circa 1765, blue crowned interlaced C mark, iron-red painter's arrow and circle
A couple in patterned and coloured clothes quarrelling, he seated on a bench and she standing before a table with a carafe and a glass, on a rectangular tile-moulded base enriched in grey (one figure lacking, carafe re-stuck, slight chip to table)
2½in. (6.5cm.) high
Circa 1765, blue crowned interlaced C mark, iron-red painter's arrow and circle
A couple in patterned and coloured clothes quarrelling, he seated on a bench and she standing before a table with a carafe and a glass, on a rectangular tile-moulded base enriched in grey (one figure lacking, carafe re-stuck, slight chip to table)
2½in. (6.5cm.) high
Provenance
Sammlung Emma Budge, Hamburg (old collection label), sale Paul Graupe, Berlin 27-29 September 1937, lot 958f.