Bonhams 1793 : A Meissen double-handled armorial beaker and saucer from the Althann/Daun service, circa 1735

Each painted with the arms of Althann and Daun and scattered flowers, the reverse of the beaker with a chinoiserie scene on an elaborate gilt scrollwork and trellis bracket embellished in Böttger lustre and with iron-red and purple foliate scrollwork, gilt foliate and strapwork borders to the rims, the reverse of the saucer with further scattered flower heads and a gilt footrim, the beaker: 6.6cm high; the saucer: 12.8cm diam., crossed swords marks in underglaze-blue (2)

Sold for £10,625 inc. premium

Footnotes

Provenance:
The Viscount Boyd of Merton, sold by Christie's London, 6 December 2004, lot 422

Literature:
Ulrich Pietsch, Passion for Meissen (2010), no. 70

This beaker and saucer display the coats of arms of Althann and Daun, two families of Austrian nobility. The only known unification of the two families is the marriage of Gräfin Anna Elizabeth von Daun to Michael Ehrenreich, Count of Althann, which would have resulted in the combination of these two separate arms. Count Althann died in 1715 so it is probably likely that the service, of which this sugar bowl is part, was produced for his widow, Countess Anna Elizabeth von Althann née Daun (1674-1747).

The only other recorded pieces from this service are: an oval sugar bowl and cover, sold from the Hoffmeister Collection in these Rooms, 25 November 2009, lot 79; an oval teapot stand, sold by Christie's London, 7 July 1969, lot 61; a tea canister and cover in the Dr. Ernst Schneider Collection, Schloss Lustheim (published in Mitteilungsblatt der Keramik Rückert 1966, no. 457); another two-handled beaker and saucer, sold by Sotheby's London, 29 June 1982, lot 119; a coffee pot and matched cover, sold by Christie's London, 27 June 2005, lot 149; and a teabowl, sold by Dorotheum, Vienna, 13 October 2011, lot 1168.

The tea canister with cover is also published in: Keramikfreunde der Schweiz, Mitteilungsblatt 50, ill. 140.

Category: Decorative Arts / European Ceramics

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