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Lot Essay
This service was made for Queen Juliana Maria, widow of King Frederick V of Denmark. She was his second wife, whom he married in 1752 and who ruled Denmark after his death until 1784. The statue depicted on the service, which stands in Amalienborg Square, Copenhagen, was commissioned by The Danish East India Company. It was designed by Jacques Saly between 1753 and 1767, cast in 1768 by Pierre Cor, and errected in 1771. In 1774, the then Minister of War, J. P. Classen, arranged as a personal gift for the statue to be enclosed by railings. The Danish East India Company acknowledged this generosity in 1774 by giving Classen a Chinese porcelain dinner service designed by Peter Cramer, bearing the statue within a wreath. It was Classen's service that inspired the ordering of the Queen's service in the following year. The royal service was embellished by a wide gilt border and had the unusual feature of each piece being octagonal in shape, whereas Classen's service was in the main oval. See B. L. Grandjean, Dansk Ostindisk Porcelaen, 1965, pp.57-63 for a discussion of these two services and figs. 73-76 for various pieces from each service.
A very similar plate from this royal service is in the British Museum, exhibited Ancient Chinese Trade Ceramics, Taibei, 1994, Catalogue, no.121, pp.272 and 273. For a tureen from this service in the Statens Museum for Konst, see M. Beurdeley, Porcelain of the East India Companies, 1962, p.128, fig.88 and a plate in the same Museum, ibid., p.200, cat.216; the tureen is also illustrated by F. and N. Hervout and Y. Bruneau, La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes Dcor Occidental, 1986, p.229, fig.9.104. A deep dish from this service is in the Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, illustrated by Jan Wirgin, Fran Kina till Europa, 1998, no.172, p.162.
A very similar plate from this royal service is in the British Museum, exhibited Ancient Chinese Trade Ceramics, Taibei, 1994, Catalogue, no.121, pp.272 and 273. For a tureen from this service in the Statens Museum for Konst, see M. Beurdeley, Porcelain of the East India Companies, 1962, p.128, fig.88 and a plate in the same Museum, ibid., p.200, cat.216; the tureen is also illustrated by F. and N. Hervout and Y. Bruneau, La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes Dcor Occidental, 1986, p.229, fig.9.104. A deep dish from this service is in the Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, illustrated by Jan Wirgin, Fran Kina till Europa, 1998, no.172, p.162.