A three-piece Niedermayer porcelain writing set with views of Vienna
Comprising a rectangular tray finely painted with labelled views "Vue de la ville de vienne", "prisé du château de Belvedère". The pouce box and inkwell decorated with views of Vienna. The tray signed and dated lower right "J. Schufried 1826". With indistinct blue bindenschild mark to the undersides of both vessels, year mark 826, dreher's mark W for Kaspar Dondl. Tray H 4.1, W 29.8, D 21.6 cm.
Vienna, Niedermayer manufactory, 1826, painted by Jakob Schufried.
This writing set is known to have been produced in connection with a royal order. In a register of items delivered to the King in the year 1828 the writing set is listed as a present "For his royal highness, the brother his majesty the King of Prussia" on 1st October. The Emperor paid 120 gulders from his own purse for the writing set (Lehner Jobst, ibid., p. 370). Three princes come into question as the recipient of the gift: Heinrich (1781 - 1846), Wilhelm (1783 - 1851), and Friedrich Wilhelm Duke of Brandenburg (1792 - 1850, from the morganatic marriage of Friedrich Wilhelm II and Sophie von Dönhoff).
Literature
Wittwer (ed.), Raffinesse & Eleganz, Munich 2007, no. 119.
A further identical inkwell with a depiction of the giraffes in the Tierpark Schönbrunn kept in the collection of the MAK in Vienna (inv. no. Ke6937), in: Mrazek/Neuwirth, Wiener Porzellan 1718 - 1864, Vienna, undated, no. 709.
Exhibitions
Raffinesse & Eleganz - Königliche Porzellane des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts aus einer amerikanischen Privatsammlung, Berlin, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten, Schloss Charlottenburg, 28th July - 4th November 2007
Die Sammlung Cohen. Porzellane der grossen Manufakturen 1800 - 1840. Wien, Liechtenstein Museum, 16th November 2007 - 11th February 2008
Refinement & Elegance - Early 19th-Century Royal Porcelain from an American private collection, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 9th September 2008 - 19th April 2009