A MEISSEN COMPOSITE TRAVELLING (K.P.M.) CHINOISERIE TEA AND COFFEE SERVICE with contemporary Augsburg silver-gilt mounts, painted in the manner of J.G. Höroldt with chinoiserie figures at various pursuits within quatrefoil cartouches with Böttger lustre panels and gilt and iron-red Laub-und-Bandelwerk, the ground with scattered indianische Blumen and insects and the borders with interlocking gilt scrolls and flowerheads within gilt line rims, comprising:

Details

A MEISSEN COMPOSITE TRAVELLING (K.P.M.) CHINOISERIE TEA AND COFFEE SERVICE with contemporary Augsburg silver-gilt mounts, painted in the manner of J.G. Höroldt with chinoiserie figures at various pursuits within quatrefoil cartouches with Böttger lustre panels and gilt and iron-red Laub-und-Bandelwerk, the ground with scattered indianische Blumen and insects and the borders with interlocking gilt scrolls and flowerheads within gilt line rims, comprising:
(a) A pear-shaped coffee-pot and stepped domed cover with silver-gilt mounts, tapering spout and scroll handle with a figure watering flowers and a negro bringing fruit to a man seated beside a rabbit, the cover with gilt knob finial (slight hair crack beside spout)
(b) A K.P.M. squat baluster teapot and cover with silver-gilt mounts, mask head spout, with a man bowing to two dignatories and figures seated beside a table, vases and a peacock displaying to one side (finial broken and a restored replacement, slight chip to footrim), blue K.P.M. mark
(c) A K.P.M. octagonal sugar-box and cover with silver-gilt mounts, the box with two cats and two partridges with their chicks, the cover with a figure before a steaming pot and another before a vase (minute chip to footrim), blue K.P.M. mark
(d) A hexagonal ribbed tea-caddy and cover, three panels with full length dignatories and three with pagodas on rocky outcrops (minute chip to footrim and rim of cover)
(e) A bowl, one side with two figures before a steaming brazier, the other with a seated dignatory and a man holding a fan and a parrot on a hoop, the interior painted in iron-red with an Oriental beside a flowering plant
Four teabowls with (f) a seated man smoking, (g) another beside a knife-grinder, (h) another gardening and (i) a negress before a table (the last with a minute rim chip), Dreher's to footrims
Six saucers with (j) a huntsman riding a plumed horse followed by a dog, (k) a man leading a donkey carrying a monkey and birds, (l) another carrying three fish and a parrot on a pole, (m) another taking tea at discussion with a standing man, (n) a lady carrying chickens and a cockerel following her, and (o) a lady and child before a fence (the third with a small restored rim chip)
(some slight rubbing to gilding), the mounts with EA marks for Elias Adam, Augsburg and stamped pineapple town marks for 1722-26, in a rectangular travelling case with chamfered corners, covered with leather, lined with green velvet edged with gilt braid, with gilt metal handles, hinges and fastenings (worm holes to box, some leather lacking, some relining to interior of cover and part of front fastening lacking), 1722-26
Two teabowls en suite with European half-figures as huntsmen in landscapes within oval cartouches (one cracked and with associated chip, the other with gilding rubbed), Dreher's /, circa 1723
the case 52.5cm. wide

Lot Essay

The close relationhip between this service and sheets 83 and 89 of the Schulz-Codex is remarkable. Almost all the subjects on the service are derived from these two sheets and it is more than likely that some of the subjects are missing from the left hand edge of sheet 89 and some are cut off at the lower edge of the sheets. This use of subjects from two sheets only suggests two alternative avenues of thought. Either that the painter, whose technique, and particularly his handling of rockwork and depiction of animals is extremely close to Johann Gregor Höroldt, had only those two sheets available to him, or that the Schulz-Codex is not in fact a source of ideas but a visual record of the chinoiserie designs actually executed by the Malerstube. This is born out by the fact that there are no modifications in the sketches.

The absence of crossed swords marks on any of the pieces and the Augsburg town mark for 1722/26 give us a very clear terminus ante quem for the production of the service

The subjects on the Schulz-Codex sheets and on the pieces of the service are as follows:

Sheet No. 81
(e) bowl, man holding a parrot, bottom row, third figure from the left
Sheet No. 83
(a) coffee-pot, bottom centre for the man watering plants
(b) teapot, both sides to the right side of the sheet
(k) teabowl, with a packhorse see to the left at the bottom

Sheet No. 89
(d) tea-caddy, two standing figures
(e) bowl, the brazier scene
(f) teabowl, man smoking
(g) teabowl, man with knife-grinder
(h) teabowl, man gardening
(j) saucer, part of man on plumed horse
(l) saucer, man carrying fish
(n) saucer, lady followed by a cockerel
(o) saucer, lady and child

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