Raphael Machiels
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Lot 206
Bol à thé et soucoupe armoriés en porcelaine de Meissen provenant du service Grimani, vers 1725
A Meissen armorial teabowl and saucer from the Grimani service, circa 1725
A Meissen armorial teabowl and saucer from the Grimani service, circa 1725
30 – 31 October 2025, 14:00 CET
Paris, Avenue Hoche€6,500 - €7,500
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Nette Megens
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Sebastian Kuhn
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Sophie von der Goltz
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Bol à thé et soucoupe armoriés en porcelaine de Meissen provenant du service Grimani, vers 1725
A Meissen armorial teabowl and saucer from the Grimani service, circa 1725
A Meissen armorial teabowl and saucer from the Grimani service, circa 1725
Each painted with the arms of Grimani, the teabowl with a chinoisere scene depicting a figure feeding pigeons, within a gilt quatrelobe cartouche filled with Böttger lustre and embellished with iron-red and purple scrollwork, the well of the teabowl with a spray of indianische Blumen within two iron-red circles, gilt-edged rims, the reverse of the saucer with three concentric iron-red circles, the cup: 4.5cm high; the saucer: 12.5cm diam., (2)
Footnotes
Provenance
Edna, Lady Tate, sold Christie's London, 6 March 1995, lot 245;
The Hoffmeister Collection, Hamburg
Literature
Mauri, Luigi, Fragili Emozioni: Porcellane europee nel gusto di un collezionista lombardo, Milan, 2013, pp. 70-71, cat. 33
Hoffmeister, Dieter, Meissener Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts Sammlung Hoffmeister, vol.II, 1999, no. 303
Exhibited
Hamburg, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Sammlung Hoffmeister, 1999-2009
This cup and saucer is from a tea service decorated with the coat of arms of the Grimani family. It is most likely to have been produced for Pietro Grimani (1677-1752) who was ambassador to England, Vienna and Rome, respectively; he was also Doge of Venice between 1741 and 1752. The Grimanis had been prominent in Venice since the 10th century and Pietro was the third Doge in the family.
In Sansovino's guide to Venice in 1581, he declared that there were "four patrician palaces in the city that surpassed all others in size, grandeur and expense" (Deborah Howard, The Architectural History of Venice, 2004, p. 186) the Palazzo Grimani by Sanmicheli, was one of them. The Grimanis were also active patrons of art and architecture in Venice.
Pietro Grimani had been involved in the peace treaty between Austria and the Ottoman Empire in 1720 when he was Procurator of San Marco; this particular tea service may have been a diplomatic gift for his endeavours. Another armorial teabowl and saucer from Grimani service from the Hoffmeister Collection was sold at Bonhams London, 26 May 2010, lot 75.
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