CIRCA 1733, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK, WHEEL-ENGRAVED JAPANESE PALACE INVENTORY NUMBER N=147- / W HEIGHTENED IN BLACK ENAMEL

Details

A MEISSEN PORCELAIN ROYAL ARMORIAL DISH FROM THE CORONATION SERVICE
CIRCA 1733, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK, WHEEL-ENGRAVED JAPANESE PALACE INVENTORY NUMBER N=147- / W HEIGHTENED IN BLACK ENAMEL
Decorated with the crowned Royal arms of Poland and Saxony within a trefoil gilt Sgraffito panel and Böttger-lustred escutcheon edged with palms and drapery, the well with scattered indianische Blumen and wheat sheaves within an elaborate gilt border
8 7⁄8 in. (22.5 cm.) diameter

Provenance

Augustus III Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (r. 1733-1763), and by descent to the Royal Collections of Saxony, Japanese Palace, Dresden.

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Isabelle Cartier-Stone Specialist

icartier-stone@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2898

Lot Essay

This dish is from the important Royal service which later became known (in the 19th century) as the 'Coronation Service'. According to Ulrich Pietsch, the service was first used on 17th January 1734 in Kraków, on the occasion of the coronation of Augustus III, who succeeded his father Augustus 'the Strong' as King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Pietsch suggests that the porcelain service was probably displayed on a buffet behind the coronation table where the new king and his courtiers would probably have been eating off silver.¹ The service was moved to the Japanese Palace in Dresden later that year, and according to the delivery specification it comprised of 77 pieces. By the time the 1770 inventory of the Japanese Palace had been taken, one plate had been broken and three tureens were missing.²

1. Ulrich Pietsch, Early Meissen Porcelain, The Wark Collection from The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, London, 2011, p. 459.
2. Claus Bolz, 'Japanisches Palais-Inventar 1770 und Turmzimmer-Inventar 1769', in Keramos No. 153, July 1996, p. 91.

More from Two Private Collections of European Ceramics, Gold Boxes and Silver

View All