Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
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Lot 53
An extremely rare pair of Meissen olio pots and covers circa 1723-25
3 December 2020, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£50,000 - £80,000
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Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
An extremely rare pair of Meissen olio pots and covers circa 1723-25
Each finely painted with chinoiserie scenes within gilt quatrelobe scrollwork cartouches filled with Böttger lustre and edged with scrollwork in shades of iron-red, the gilt-edged square handles flanked by indianische Blumen, raised on three feet embellished with gilt floral scrollwork motifs, the covers with three similar chinoiserie cartouches divided by gilt foliate strapwork, the gilt knopped finials with a gilt-edged green band, the rims with gilt borders of flower heads and scrolling foliage, the inside of each pot with a large gilt lobster on the Böttger lustre ground and a scrollwork border inside the rim, the insides of the cover decorated with two gilt flower sprays and a petal border around the middle all on a Böttger lustre ground, 16cm diam.; 16.5cm across handles; 13.2cm high (4)
Footnotes
Provenance:
Sold at Drouot Paris, 24 May 2019, lot 241
The decoration of these two tureens - in particular, the gilt decoration on the lustre ground to the inside of the tureen and underside of the cover - is exceptional and could suggest a gift or particular commission. It is interesting to note that the lavish gift of Meissen porcelain sent by Augustus the Strong to the French Cardinal, André-Hercule de Fleury, in late 1728 included three different pairs of tureens, covers and stands with 'Japonischen Figuren: Große Suppen Schaalen [large soup bowls]; Olien-Becher [olio pots]; and Suppen-Töpffgen [soup pots] (the delivery specification is published in M. Cassidy-Geiger (ed.), Fragile Diplomacy (2007), p. 331).