BY THE MEISSEN PORCELAIN FACTORY, 1766

Details

A silver-mounted porcelain fork from the Hunting Service
by the Meissen Porcelain Factory, 1766
The moulded, shaped handle with a button terminal, painted with two gilt rocaille cartouches enclosing on one side a view depicting a huntsman with his dog in a wooded landscape, and a hunting scene on another, on green ground with gilt highlighted design, mounted with a three-pronged fork, the handle apparently unmarked
the handle 3 in. (7.5 cm) long

Literature

Masterpieces of 18th c..., number 206.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

This fork is a part of the Hunting Service commissioned by Catherine II from the Meissen Porcelain Factory for Count Orlov. The service was kept at Gatchina and was considered one of the palace's main attractions.
Today, almost the whole of the service belongs to the Gatchina Museum. At one point, Alexandre Popoff's collection had around 100 pieces of this service, the largest number of pieces ever held in private hands. Now, only the stem of this fork remains to hint at the splendour and beauty of the service as a whole.

For further references see:
U. Pietsch, Exhibition catalogue, Meissen for the Czars: Porcelain as a Tool of Saxon-Russian Politics in the 18th century, The State Art Collection Dresden, Munich, 2004, pp. 95-101.

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