Classic Design: Furniture, Silver & Ceramics
Classic Design: Furniture, Silver & Ceramics
Property from the Collection of Martin and Helene Schwalberg
A Meissen Plate from the Swan Service, Circa 1738
Lot Closed
October 17, 04:06 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A Meissen Plate from the Swan Service, Circa 1738
modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler, in low relief with two swimming swans among bulrushes with a crane in flight above, upon a spiral shell molded ground, the rim painted with the Brühl and Kolowrat-Krakowska arms and scattered flower sprigs, with a gilt border to the rim, crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue
diameter 9 1/8 in., 23.3 cm
The celebrated Swan service, one of the largest services to be produced at the Meissen factory comprised as many as 2,200 pieces and was commissioned by Heinrich Graf von Brühl, Director of the Meissen factory, on the occasion of his marriage in 1737 to Gräfin Franziska von Kolowrat-Krakowska, whose coat of arms appears impaled with Brühl's on each piece.
The modelling of this service was the work of Kändler and Eberlein, whose inspiration for its watery theme may have come from the literal translation of the name Brühl: 'swampy meadow or marshy ground'. Production was lengthy and the vast service was not completed until 1741.
Sotheby's Scientific Research department used noninvasive XRF for this lot to screen the green enamel for chromium, which was not detected.