Sets of tableware

Recommended lots

Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur Berlin KPM - Table mirror from a Frederician toilet service Porcelain, coloured overglaze decoration, predominantly in sea green and light purple, gilding, ebonized wood, mirror glass. Model 161, fired in several pieces, mounted on the wooden support with screws. Folding stand at the back. Smooth break in the left side strip, restorations to individual leaf edges, the tip of the rocaille grid at the top and the flowers in her hair. H 59.5, W 38.5 cm. Berlin, KPM, circa 1768. Three other versions of this rare table mirror are known to date: 1. the example published by Lenz in 1913, "gold, pink and green painted", formerly owned by Margarete Oppenheim (1857 - 1935). 2. the example published by Köllmann, then in the Karl-Heinz Wadsack collection, painted green, yellow and enamel blue. 3. the unstaffed example that appeared in the Orangerie auction in 2017. Lenz mentions several mirrors that were delivered to the king in the achivalic tables with the excerpts from Frederick II's treasury accounts. The first were delivered in 1767, proudly recorded with the comment "Two mirror frames, one 14 1/2 feet high, 3 feet wide, and the other 12 1/4 feet high, 3 feet wide, made and delivered to the king's utmost satisfaction to the new palace at Sans Souci." Under the date of delivery on 18.6. 1768 is the entry "2 compl. colorful gemd. Toilets with natural flowers and gold mosaic pp.". On December 21, 1768, the manufactory delivered "3 compl. toilets all white, each consisting of 2 candlesticks, 1 mirror, 1 large, 2 medium square toilet boxes, 2 poudre tins, 2 large, 2 medium, 2 small tins for pomade pp., 2 spirit bottles, 2 needle plates, 2 small, 2 large brushes, 1 washbasin together with 1 watering can and 1 soap ball tin". A few years later, with delivery on 25.7. 1774, there is also "1 complete toilet and mirror of 39 pieces with colorful natural flowers and gold edging". The popularity of these sets as prestigious gifts gives an idea of how important the daily ritual of body care and maquillage was at court. Wigs and powders created a uniform, well-groomed appearance that concealed revealing physical flaws and overly individual features. Every member of the royal court underwent this "grande toilette" procedure, which also included elaborate dressing. All of this took up a large part of the day. Lavishly forged silver toilet sets came into fashion in France under King Louis XIV. From the end of the 17th century, the Augsburg silversmiths produced large boxes with numerous pieces of furniture, which were distributed throughout Europe as orders or gifts. The first individual pieces made of porcelain or with porcelain handles were produced by the royal Meissen manufactory from the early 1730s. After the Seven Years' War and the takeover of the Berlin porcelain manufactory by Frederick II, toilet vessels and objects were also produced there to meet the needs of the court. Literature See Lenz, Berlin Porcelain. Die Manufaktur Friedrichs des Grossen 1763 - 1786, 1st vol., Berlin 1913, ill. 588. Cf. Preußische Akademie der Künste zu Berlin (ed.), Meisterwerke aus den preussischen Schlössern, Berlin 1930, no. 115. Cf. Köllmann/Jarchow, Berliner Porzellan, illustrated book, Munich 1987, no. 605, deceased. Christie's London, May 1, 2002, lot 45. Cf. auction Orangerie Berlin on November 30, 2017, lot 336, an unpainted white example.

Estim. 15,000 - 20,000 EUR

Meissen Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur - Dinner plate from the "Japanese dinner service" for King Frederick II. Porcelain, colored overglaze decoration, gold rim. Model with curved fluted rim. Yellow mosaic edge, framed by fine purple rocailles. The riser shelf painted enamel blue. A landscape island with a turtle-like animal in the center. Blue Swords mark, impressed number 56. Restored rim chip between 4 and 5 o'clock, some glaze rubbing. D 24.4 cm. Meissen, 1762/63, the model by Johann Joachim Kaendler. During the Seven Years' War, the Prussian King Frederick II visited the Meissen modeller Johann Joachim Kaendler to personally inform him of his wishes for a service with his own drawings. In 1961, Otto Walcha published a memorandum by Kaendler dated November 11, 1762, which refers to the Japanese service. It shows that Frederick II gave Kaendler a French silver plate as a model, but also provided precise details of the decoration: "As far as the painting is concerned, this service should be painted yellow with mosaic on the rim and the inside edge should be somewhat glinde as usual with beautiful blue, so that the yellow is highlighted. For each bowl and plate, Your Royal Majesty has ordered that an Indian animal and bird be ground in beautiful proportions, such as camels, elephants, renoceros, panther-animals, baboons, monkeys, ostriches, casuaries, various pappagoyas and other Indian animals and birds (...)". This note was countersigned by Frederick II. The "most bizarre of all" service was intended for the Chinese House in Sanssouci Park, completed in 1764, and originally consisted of 96 plates and 72 dessert plates as well as four tureens and a dozen serving dishes. It is no longer possible to reconstruct how many of these were completed before the Peace of Hubertusburg. The plates and bowls are now scattered in numerous museums and collections, some of them only in fragments. Most of the pieces are in the possession of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation. Literature Cf. cat. Königliche Eleganz Preußische Pracht, 250 Jahre Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur Berlin KPM, Düsseldorf 2013, no. 6. Cf. Walcha, Frederick II's last important porcelain order in Meissen, in: Keramos 12/1961, p. 31 ff. Cf. Beaucamp-Markowsky, Rhinoceros and Panther Animal. A rediscovered tureen from Frederick the Great's "Japanese Service" in Meissen. Erich Köllmann on the occasion of his 75th birthday, in: Keramos 94/1981, p. 17 ff. The pieces in the Schloss Charlottenburg Collection have been published several times, for example in Wittwer, "hat der König von Preußen die schleunige Verferttigung verschiedener Bestellungen ernstlich begehret" Friedrich der Große und das Meißener Porzellan, in: Keramos 208/2010, p. 64 ff. Cf. cat. Triumph of the Blue Swords. Meissen porcelain for the nobility and bourgeoisie 1710 - 1815, Dresden 2010, no. 299. S.a. Lempertz Berlin auction 1169 on April 24, 2021, lot 1, another dinner plate from this service, formerly Erich von Goldschmidt-Rothschild collection, deceased. Christie's Geneva on May 9, 1988, lot 164, then Renate and Tono Dreßen collection.

Estim. 8,000 - 10,000 EUR

Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur Berlin KPM - Dinner plate from the last dinner service for King Frederick II. Porcelain, cobalt blue underglaze decoration, colored overglaze decoration, etched gilding. Model 631, English glaze. A finely painted bouquet of field flowers in the center, surrounded by three calices. A gold-contoured blue ribbon around the flag, entwined by a gold laurel leaf wreath. Blue sceptre mark, impressed number 19. D 24.5 cm. Berlin, KPM, 1786. Not even four weeks before his death on August 17, 1986, Frederick II ordered three large dinner services, each with 72 dinner plates etc., from his porcelain manufactory. Under the date 20.7.86, Georg Lenz lists the service from which this dinner plate comes: "painted with natural colorful bouquet of flowers, on the board a dark blue band entwined gold engraved laurel tendrils and gilded edge". The service cost 4018 Reichstaler. It was produced at least in part, but was not delivered to the court. Provenance Last Berlin private collection, acquired in 2008. Literature For the order, see the archival tables in Lenz, Berliner Porzellan. Die Manufaktur Friedrichs des Grossen 1763 - 1786, 1st vol., Berlin 1913, p. 16. See also ibid. vol. 2, fig. 783. Cf. Baer, Ein wiederentdecktes Tafelservice Friedrichs des Grossen. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der spät-friderizianischen KPM-Service, in: Spiegelungen, Mainz 1986, pp. 185-204. See also cat. Berlin Porcelain. Splendor and Elegance of Tables and Tables 1763 - 1850, Münster 2006, cat. No. 63. S.a. Lempertz Berlin Auction 1105 on 21 April 2018, lot 126, the plate from the collection of Prof. Dr. Gisela Zick.

Estim. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR