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Lot 76

A pair of Meissen miniature vases, circa 1740

5 July 2018, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £875 inc. premium

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A pair of Meissen miniature vases, circa 1740

Painted with the 'Schmetterling' pattern of butterflies perched on flowering branches and further scattered flower-sprigs, 7cm high, traces of crossed swords mark in blue to one (minuscule chip to rim on one) (2)

Footnotes

Provenance:
With Tilley & Co. London, purchased December 1954

The 'Schmetterling' or butterfly pattern, a mixture of Chinese Famille verte and Japanese porcelain motifs, appears to date from the early 1730s onwards, though this tureen form was only modelled by J.F. Eberlein in June 1742. Some pieces of the service are marked 'K.H.C.' (for 'Königliche Hof-Conditorey', the Saxon/Polish Royal Court Pantry), though it is not certain whether the pattern was produced exclusively for the use of the Saxon court. The inventory of the Royal hunting palace at Hubertsburg includes an entire service 'mit dem Papillon gemahlet' [painted with a butterfly] (see J. Weber, Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern (2013), II, p. 344).

A pair of similar vases are in the Ernst Schneider Collection, illustrated in Weber (2013), II, no. 352.

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