A Meissen porcelain teabowl with rare "hausmaler" decor
Of slightly bombé conical form with flared rim, with original saucer. Decorated throughout with Chinoiserie scenes. With gilt lace borders and an exotic bird to the centre. Conjoined monogram "JHC" with three dots and 37 in a brown double-ring to the base of the teabowl and saucer.
The porcelain Meissen, ca. 1720; the decor attributed to Joseph Hackl,1737.
We know very little about Johann Joseph Hackl's life. He is thought to have been born in Augsburg around 1710. He originally trained as a sculptor, before being discovered in Prague by Gaetano Chiaveri and called to Dresden in 1737. There he was first employed in the decoration of churches before working for the royal buildings office as of 1741. Riesebieter describes him as an "Augsburg court sculptor, former, and controller", although none of these descriptions have yet been confirmed. He found Hackl's signature on Göggingen faience pieces that the artist must have purchased unpainted for little money and subsequently decorated. He was able to purchase unpainted Meissen porcelain in Dresden, which he decorated and sold on. His decor is heavily inspired by the style of the Seuter workshop in Augsburg, which he appears to have known well.
Literature
This decorator mentioned in: Thieme/Becker, vol. 15 (1992) and Riesebieter, with an illustration of the signature (Die deutschen Fayencen, Leipzig 1921, p. 110 f.).