A Vienna porcelain plate in the style of Herculaneum
The border decorated with depictions of birds, fruit, and plants en grisaille in black ground reserves alternating with figures of classical ladies in gold ground reserves with black corners. The well decorated with an eight-lobed medallion surrounding a grapevine on black ground. Blue "bindenschild" mark, red 8., year stamp 801, impressed numbers. D 24.4 cm.
Vienna, Imperial porcelain manufactory under Konrad von Sorgenthal, fired 1801, painted by Johann Weichselbaum.
Johann Weichselbaum (1752 - 1840) came directly to the manufactory after studying at the Vienna academy under Füger. He received a permanent position immediately and became head painter in 1794. Weichselbaum probably based this work on designs for a service made by Franz Otter (sen.). He in turn was inspired by illustrations found in the eight-volume book of prints "Le antichità di Ercolano esposte" commissioned by Charles VII in order to publicise the excavations carried out by the Bourbons. The work was published in Naples between 1757 and 1792 and sold throughout the world. Five of the eight volumes focussed on the murals, three on the bronzes, and the rest on the other items preserved by the volcanic eruption at Herculaneum.
Provenance
Sotheby´s Zurich, 7th December 1994, lot 178.
Literature
Wittwer (ed.), Raffinesse & Eleganz, Munich 2007, no. 50.
Lehner-Jobst published a drawing of a tray by Franz Otter with identical decor (ibid. illus. 33).
A déjeuner with the same motifs in the original case is housed in the collection of the Princes von und zu Liechtenstein (ibid., illus. 34).
For more on this painter, cf.: Mrazek/Neuwirth, Wiener Porzellan, Vienna, undated, p. 51.
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