A MEISSEN BLUE AND WHITE PROCELAIN BOTTLE VASE AND COVER

AUGUSTUS REX, CIRCA 1722/23, BLUE AR MONOGRAM MARK

Details

A MEISSEN BLUE AND WHITE PROCELAIN BOTTLE VASE AND COVER
Augustus Rex, circa 1722/23, blue AR monogram mark
Of baluster form with garlic top to the neck, painted in a strong greyish-blue in the Oriental style with Chinoiserie figures on a terrace and a phoenix flying above flanked by flowering plants issuing from rockwork, the neck with further flowering plants issuing from rockwork and an insect flying above, the upper border with Van Dyke pattern, the domed foot and cover with further flowering plants, the cover with triple-knopped finial
17 in. (43.5cm.) high

Provenance

The Property of a Noted European Collector; Christie's, London, 28 March 1977, lot 50
The British Rail Pension Fund; Sotheby's, London, 17-18 October 1988, lot 378
With Armin B. Allen

Lot Essay

The earliest cobalt blue was discovered at the Meissen factory by David Khler who died, taking his recipe to his grave, on 30 April 1723. This vase must therefore predate that event and should be considered among the earliest Augustus Rex Vases extant.

Cf. the similar vase without its cover in the Porzellan Sammlung Dresden, illustrated by Klaus-Peter Arnold et. al., Meissener Blaumalerei aus Drei Jahrhunderten, no. 35; also five unmarked vases of similar shape illustrated by Klaus-Peter Arnold et. al., ibid. nos. 20-24 and lot 49 in the same Christie's London single-owner sale from which the present vase was acquired.