A Berlin KPM porcelain plate with green porphyry ground and trophies
Model no. 1084. Decorated to the centre with a depiction of a Roman ship in a laurel wreath medallion. The border with concentric bands of Roman standards and eagles. Blue sceptre mark, gilt 147., impressed 16, incised III. D 24.3 cm.
Circa 1817, the decor attributed to Louis Henri Rivet de la Grange.
On 27th October 1806, French troops conquered Berlin. The royal family fled to Königsberg. Upon Napoleon's initiative, the Rheinbund was formed, a confederation of 16 German states which left the Holy Roman Empire to enter into a military alliance with France in opposition to the Prussian state. The French style was adopted readily and quickly in these pro-Napoleonic regions. Although it was produced significantly after the French occupation, which lasted until 1813, the design of this plate clearly displays the influence of Napoleon's most important designers, Charles Percier and Pierre François Leonard Fontaine.
Provenance
Christie´s London, 1st May 2002, lot 102.
Literature
Wittwer (ed.), Raffinesse & Eleganz, Munich 2007, no. 39.
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