A rare Meissen Hausmaler eagle teapot and cover, circa 1715-25
17*
A rare Meissen Hausmaler eagle teapot and cover, circa 1715-25
Probably modelled by Johann Jakob Irminger, decorated in the Seuter workshop in Augsburg, the bulbous body applied with a gilt eagle spout and gilt ear-shaped handle with a putto-head terminal, each side with a finely tooled chinoiserie vignette depicting figures and trees on a bracket, the footrim gilt, the rims gilt and with C-scroll borders, the domed cover with birds perched on branches, attached to the handle and spout by a chain, 14cm high (some wear to gilding) (2)
Sold for £31,250 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • Provenance:
    Sydney J. Lamon Collection, New York, sold by Christie's London, 29 November 1973, lot 4

    Literature:
    Ulrich Pietsch, Passion for Meisen (2010), no. 56

    This form was probably designed by the Dresden Court Goldsmith, Johann Jacob Irminger, and is listed in the 1711 inventory of the Meissen manufactory ('Thee Krügel mit den ganzen Adler' [teapot with the whole eagle]); see Claus Boltz, "Formen des Böttgersteinzeugs im Jahre 1711", in Mitteilungsblatt der Keramikfreunde der Schweiz, 96/1982, pp.7-40. Böttger stoneware examples are in the Ludwig Collection, Bamberg (published by L.Hennig (ed.), Glanz des Barock - Sammlung Ludwig in Bamberg, no.99), and in the Dr. Ernst Schneider Collection, Schloss Lustheim (R.Eikelmann (pub.), Meißner Porzellan des 18.Jahrhunderts in Schloß Lustheim, no.5).

    The 1721 inventory of the manufactory includes 'Ein sauberer, rund gedruckter am Halße etwas vergoldeter Theé Pot mit einem Adler statt der Schnauze und einem saubern Henckel, worauf ein Engle Köpffgen, nebst einen runden, etwas vergoldeten Deckel mit einem platten Knöpffgen' [a clean, round partially gilt teapot with a pinched neck with an eagle instead of the spout and a clean handle, on which there is a small angel head, along with a round, partially gilt handle with a flat finial]. Other examples are in the Arnhold Collection, New York (M. Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain (2008), no. 269; published in Frühes Meissener Porzellan (1997), no. 153; and in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (Lydia Liackhova, The Myth of the Orient. Eastern Subjects in early Meissen Porcelain (2007), no. 5).

Category: Decorative Arts / European Ceramics

Auction terms and conditions

Lot symbols

* Import low rate

Contacts

Nette Megens Bonhams
Work
101 New Bond Street
London, W1S 1SR
United Kingdom
Work +44 20 7468 8348
FaxFax: +44 20 7468 8252
Specialist - European Ceramics
Sebastian Kuhn Bonhams
Work
101 New Bond Street
London, W1S 1SR
United Kingdom
Work +44 20 7468 8384
FaxFax: +44 20 7468 8252
Specialist - European Ceramics