A Meissen 'Augustus Rex' purple-ground baluster vase and cover the porcelain circa 1730

each side painted with a quatrefoil reserve, one side showing a chinoiserie man leading his companion on a donkey, flanked by palm trees, the other side with man and woman seated at a table drinking tea in a mountainous landscape, the reserve edged with a gilt scrollwork border, the cylindrical neck with scattered sprigs of indianische Blumen, the domed cover with panels of estuary scenes and with onion-shaped finial

Sold in these Rooms, 15th May 1979, lot 89
Galerie Kugel, Paris

Original loss to tip of knop gilded over.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The AR monogram mark is the cipher of both Augustus II the Strong (1670-1733) and his successor Augustus III (1696-1763), though it seems to have been used at Meissen mainly between 1725 and 1730. It is found on some of the most ambitious and largest vases made at the time. The mark has always been said to have been used on pieces intended for the Royal palaces, or as Royal gifts. However, the undeglaze-blue mark is, of course, put onto a piece before it is fired or decorated, and it is clear from surviving examples, some with firing faults, that many of these vases were in fact put to one side after firing, to be decorated some time later, presumably for less exalted clients.

In the present case, the decoration of fantastic beasts and exotically-dressed figures, drawn with clean outline in black, is distinctively after the manner of Adam Friedrich Löwenfinck, one of a distinguished family of painters at the factory, who left their employment in 1736.
The scene showing the two people drinking tea is taken from the Nieuwe geinvventeerde Sineesen of Petrus Schenk, jun. pl. 9, illustrated by A. L. Blaauwen Keramik mit Chinoiserien nach Stichen von Petrus Schenk in Keramos, 31, 1966, p. 12, pl. 9, see fig. 1.