64 - 64. A Meissen plate from the service presented to King Frede…

Estimate 4 000 € - 6 000 €

Description

64. A Meissen plate from the service presented to King Frederik V of Denmark, circa 1746-50 Painted with Kauffahrtei scenes within a gilt cartouche in the well with gilt trellis and striped edges enclosed by iron-red and purple foliate scrollwork, the rim with four smaller cartouches, alternating with indianische Blumen and edged with a gilt band, the reverse with four groups of three flowers, 23.5cm diam., crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue Provenance Given in 1751 by Augustus III of Saxony and Poland to King Frederik V of Denmark; Christiansborg Palace Court Pantry; The Margarete Oppenheim Collection, sold at Julius Boehler, Munich, 18-20 May 1936, lot 818 This lot is being sold with the agreement of the Estate of Margarete Oppenheim. For an extensive discussion of the service, see Mogens Bencard, "Denmark and Saxony Family Ties and Meissen Porcelain, Part 2" in Cassidy Geiger (ed.), Fragile Diplomacy, 2007, pp. 185-188, on which the following is based. The first mentions of work on a gift for the Danish court appear in the Meissen records in the second half of 1744. Around the same time, Ulrich von Spenner, the Saxon ambassador to Denmark between 1744 and 1756, reported to Count Brühl that he had been defending the high quality of Saxon porcelain. The next mention of Meissen porcelain in von Spenner's correspondence occurs in 1749, when he reports that the king had inquired after his long-promised porcelain, which was part of a royal exchange of gifts of 1746 when Frederik V became king. Brühl ordered production on the gift to be speeded up, but von Spenner reported in March 1750 that Brühl's Danish counterpart, Count Moltke, had again inquired, with increasing impatience, after the porcelain. The embarrassing delay came to an end in August 1751, when the porcelain finally arrived in Copenhagen. Spenner was able to report to Brühl that "hardly had the King seen me before he came to tell me that yesterday he had seen the magnificent and beautiful porcelain that my King had sent him. He asked me to relay his satisfaction and to what extent this present had given him pleasure". The ambassador also reported that Count Moltke asked "to relay his very humble gratitude for the service de table, which the King had destined for him, He assured me, that he would seek every opportunity to mark his attachment to His Most Sacred Majesty and his interests". Much of the service remains part of the Danish Royal Collections at Rosenborg Castle. 159 pieces, including 152 plates, were said to have been destroyed or to have disappeared in the disastrous fire at Christiansborg Palace in 1794. The earliest surviving inventory of the Court Pantry of Christiansborg Palace of 1781 lists 146 pieces, suggesting that the service had been divided and kept in different palaces. Two plates were sold at Bonhams London, the first as part Hoffmeister Collection Part III, 24 November 2010, lot 80 and the second on 4 December 2019, lot 60.

About the sale The CLASSICS Paris

Auction location

Auction time 05/11/2026 à 14h00

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