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Lot Essay
This important service was ordered by Christian Auguste and Johanna Elizabeth, Prince and Princess of Anhalt and parents of Catherine the Great. It has been confused in the past with a very similar service with the arms of Anhalt-Dessau incorporating an L monogram that was made for Prince Leopold II (ruled 1747-51), a leading general in Frederick the Great's army.
Direct trade between China and the German princely states was rare. Frederick the Great established a trading company in 1751 but the Seven Years' War (1756-63) halted commerce, and only seven Prussian ships are recorded at Canton 1753-91. (See C. Le Corbeiller, China Trade Porcelain: Patterns of Exchange, pp. 80-83). The known German armorial services were all made for princely families: Hohenzollern, Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenberg-Schwerin. It is perhaps no coincidence that Catherine the Great herself ordered two services from China.
Direct trade between China and the German princely states was rare. Frederick the Great established a trading company in 1751 but the Seven Years' War (1756-63) halted commerce, and only seven Prussian ships are recorded at Canton 1753-91. (See C. Le Corbeiller, China Trade Porcelain: Patterns of Exchange, pp. 80-83). The known German armorial services were all made for princely families: Hohenzollern, Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenberg-Schwerin. It is perhaps no coincidence that Catherine the Great herself ordered two services from China.