Our experts present highlights of the Prussian Sale
On 16 May, our traditional Prussian Sale will take place in our Berlin house. Featuring royal porcelain, outstanding silver, select paintings and high-value pieces of furniture, our experts Dr Ingrid Gilgenmann and Dr Kilian Jay von Seldeneck present five highlights from the almost 300 lot offering in short videos.
An important translucent white Carrara marble vase
Thinly worked white Carrara marble. Vessel comprised of two parts: The upper section a broad cuppa with a beaded rim and two mascarons on either side, the lower section a flaring twist-fluted base. The shaft with a beaded border beneath the disc-shaped node above a laurel leaf frieze. H 41.5, D 69 cm. Northern Italy, after 1810, design tentatively attributed to Karl-Friedrich Schinkel.
A Berlin tapestry with a motif by Watteau
Wool and silk on linen weft, lined. Depicting an elegantly dressed couple and a guitar player sitting beneath a tree in a panoramic river landscape flanked on either side by repoussoir trees. The border with blue and yellow acanthus scrolls on dark brown ground. Restored, minor filled areas within the sky. H 320, W 358 cm. Berlin, manufactory of Charles Vigne, probably before 1745.
A Berlin KPM biscuit porcelain group depicting the crown princess and princess Ludwig
Model no. 1246. Blue sceptre mark. The base with firing cracks and one to the back of the base next to the hand holding the drapery. H 55 cm. 1st half 20th C., the model by Johann Gottfried Schadow and Friedrich Hagemann, August 1796.
This group reproduces the famous sculpture of crown princess Luise, wife of crown prince Friedrich Wilhelm, and her sister Friederike, wife of Prinz Friedrich Ludwig Karl. Johann Gottfried Schadow received the commission to depict the two young princesses in 1794 on the recommendation of state minister Friedrich Anton von Heinitz. Financed by the royal porcelain manufactory, Schadow's pupil Carl Friedrich Hagemann created the model for this version in porcelain based on designs by Karl Heinrich Schwarzkopf. The life-sized marble model was completed in July 1797 and was also paid for from the coffers of KPM.
A rare Berlin faience orange planter with the coat of arms of the von Morenthal family
Large, bell-shaped vessel with a flaring rim and scroll handles resting on a stepped base. Decorated on both sides with a large crowned coat of arms flanked by palm fronds. Unmarked, pierced base. The corpus restored, minor rim chips. H 38.3, W with handles ca. 40.5 cm. Manufactory of Gerhard Wolbeer, circa 1705.