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51
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51. A Meissen armorial plate from Münchhausen service, circa…
51
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51. A Meissen armorial plate from Münchhausen service, circa…
Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
Voluntary lot
Description
51. A Meissen armorial plate from Münchhausen service, circa 1745
Painted in purple monochrome heightened in gilding, a vignette with a Fabeltier, or mythical animal, flanked by flowers and insects in the centre, the rim surmounted by the coat of arms, against a scrolling foliate border within a gilt line and flower sprigs, 23.5cm diam., crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue
Provenance
Gift of Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, to Gerlach Adolf Freiherr von Münchhausen in 1745;
Formerly in the Brigitte Britzke Collection, Bad Pyrmont
Literature
Meissener Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts aus Bad Pyrmonter Privatbesitz, exhibition catalogue, 2002, p. 86;
Exhibited
Museum im Schloss, Bad Pyrmont, Meissener Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts aus Bad Pyrmonter Privatbesitz, 28 November 2002 to 26 January 2003;
Gerlach Adolf Freiherr von Münchhausen (1688-1770) was born into an aristocratic family from Lower Saxony. In 1715, he entered the service of the Elector of Hannover, King George II of England, who appointed von Münchhausen Acting Privy Councillor in 1727, and High Steward of the Prefecture of Celle in 1732. Münchhausen played an increasingly important political role in the years following the death of the Emperor Charles VI, and was particularly trusted by both George II and his successor, George III. The latter appointed him Prime Minister of Braunschweig and the Electorate of Hannover in 1765.
Claus Boltz has discovered correspondence in the Dresden State Archives that reveal that von Münchhausen played a leading role during negotiations in 1745 for a loan of 3.5 million Reichstalers by Braunschweig to Saxony. The correspondence between Münchhausen and the Saxon minister, Johann Christian von Hennicke, reveals that Hennicke - who was responsible under Count Brühl for the Meissen manufactory - requested a copy of Münchhausen's arms on 4th January 1745. Münchhausen, in turn, sent a letter of thanks for the "magnifique Königl. Porcellain present" (magnificent Royal gift of porcelain) on 17th April 1745 (quoted in D. Hoffmeister, Meissener Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts, 1999, II, p. 602).
Marcus Köhler has noted ("Porcelain and Diplomacy at the Courts of Hannover and Cologne," in M. Cassidy-Geiger (ed.), Fragile Diplomacy, 2007), pp. 197f.) that in 1745 Münchhausen represented the Elector of Hannover (George II) at the coronation of Stephen of Lorraine as Holy Roman Emperor in Frankfurt. As such, he would have had to attend the coronation and other state banquets, but he also had to host two dinners himself in his capacity as the Elector of Hannover's representative. Köhler also describes (p. 198) the political delicacy involved in this gift: Münchhausen was a servant of the Elector of Hannover, but his estates lay partly in Saxony making him in a sense a subject of the Elector of Saxony. In his letter of thanks, Münchhausen wrote as a "royal subject and vassal of His Royal Majesty in Poland", rather than as a minister of the Elector of Hannover.
A further plate from this service sold at Bonhams London as part of the Hoffmeister Collection, Part II, 26 May 2010, lot 87. Another three plates are in the Arnhold Collection (illustrated in M. Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain 1710-50, 2008, nos. 204a-c).
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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