A rare Meissen group showing a finely dressed couple enjoying hot chocolate at a table on a floral base. Liebespaar bei der Schokolade
Unglazed, unmarked underside. One of the man's feet has been reattached, one of the lady's little fingers also. Chips to the back of the yellow coat and one minor chip to the hem of the black dress. Further minimal chips to the leaves and flowers. H 12.5 cm.
1736 - 37, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler in December 1736.
Kaendler's elegant couple enjoying hot chocolate originally belonged to the Hamburg collector and patron Emma Budge (1852 - 1937). Her collection of choice porcelain, paintings and sculptures was known well over the borders of Hamburg. Although Mrs Budge originally planned to donate her collection to the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, she later changed her mind and her testament due to fear of reprisal. In 1937, her estate managers felt themselves compelled to sell the collection. The pieces were sold without limit by Graupe in Berlin in the largest dissolution of a collection conducted during the Third Reich.
In autumn 2014, Lempertz were able to reach a just a fair solution together with the consignor and the estate of Emma Budge according to the Washington Principles.
Provenance
Formerly Emma Budge collection, sold by Graupe, Berlin, September 1937 as lot 781.
Collection, Rhineland.
Kaendler’s elegant couple enjoying hot chocolate originally belonged to the Hamburg collector and patron Emma Budge (1852 – 1937). Her collection of choice porcelain, paintings and sculptures was known well over the borders of Hamburg. Although Mrs Budge originally planned to donate her collection to the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, she later changed her mind and her testament due to fear of reprisal. In 1937, her estate managers felt themselves compelled to sell the collection. The pieces were sold without limit by Graupe in Berlin in the largest dissolution of a collection conducted during the Third Reich.
In autumn 2014, Lempertz were able to reach a just a fair solution together with the consignor and the estate of Emma Budge according to the Washington Principles.
Literature
The modelling of this rare group is described in Kaendler’s workshop record of December 1736 (from the German): “A group comprising of two figures completed in the workshop, showing a well-dressed young man sitting on a lawn embracing a lady. Beside them is a small bird cage with birds sitting in it. Sometimes these models were also varied to include a small, decked coffee table; plates of fresh fruit; an ornamental stool with a pug dog lying upon it or another version of the birdcage motif.” (cf. Ed. Pietsch, Leipzig 2002, p. 43.)
Kaendler designed various versions of this motif of couples seated on a “lawn“. The version with the birdcage was moulded several times and can be found in the collections of various museums, such as the porcelain collection of the Zwinger in Dresden (Pietsch, Meißener Porzellanplastik, Munich 2006, no. 10). In his essay, Ziffer here refers to the copperplate engraving “Le glouton” by Pierre Filloeul after Jean-Baptiste Pater that inspired this motif (cat. Triumph der blauen Schwerter, Leipzig 2010, no. 334).
The present example from the Budge collection is the only one known with a completely decked table and a recognisable narrative: The lady has finished the chocolate and is thanking the gentleman for the invitation, distracting him in the moment he reaches for his still full cup. Every detail, down to the table cloth, chocolate service and glimpse of the lady’s petticoats, has been worked and painted to perfection. The richly blooming base shows the sumptuous floral carpet that Kaendler described as a “lawn”.