.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Franz I, Duke of Lorraine (1708-1765), married Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736. Because of the politics that surrounded Maria Theresa's succession, it was arranged that he should give up his Duchy in exchange for the Duchy of Tuscany, where the last Medici ruler had just died. Franz became the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1737 and in 1745 he became the Holy Roman Emperor. The Duchy of Lorraine was given to Stanislas Leszczynski, Louis XV's father in law, and became part of France after Leszczynski's death.
A similar example of this rare portrait bust of Franz I was once in the Ole Olsens Collection, Copenhagen (see Hermann Schmitz, Ole Olsens Kunstsammlungen, Munich, n.d., Vol. II, pl. LX, no. 1594a). Another white example is illustrated by J. Folnesics and E.W. Braun, Geschichte der K.K. Wiener Porzellan-Manufaktur (Vienna, 1907), p. 177, where it is ascribed to J.J. Niedermayer and recorded as being in the Gottfried Eißler Collection, Vienna. A similar white bust is in the Hanns and Elisabeth Weinberg collection, offered in their sale, Sotheby's New York, 10th November 2006, lot 209.
A similar example of this rare portrait bust of Franz I was once in the Ole Olsens Collection, Copenhagen (see Hermann Schmitz, Ole Olsens Kunstsammlungen, Munich, n.d., Vol. II, pl. LX, no. 1594a). Another white example is illustrated by J. Folnesics and E.W. Braun, Geschichte der K.K. Wiener Porzellan-Manufaktur (Vienna, 1907), p. 177, where it is ascribed to J.J. Niedermayer and recorded as being in the Gottfried Eißler Collection, Vienna. A similar white bust is in the Hanns and Elisabeth Weinberg collection, offered in their sale, Sotheby's New York, 10th November 2006, lot 209.