A Meissen porcelain dish no. 2 from the Swan Service
With shell mouldings and wave pattern border. The centre with a depiction of two swans and herons in relief. The border painted with small indianische blumen and the Brühl-Kolowrat-Krakovský arms of alliance. Blue crossed swords mark, dreher's mark with two dots for Johann Martin Kittel jr. Restored rim chip to the left beside the coat of arms above a firing flaw concealed by a green flower. D 30.5 cm.
1738/39, the model by Johann Joachim Kaendler.
Ulrich Pietsch writes that Kaendler began modelling the dishes for the Swan Service in five different sizes in 1738, and that he had to adjust the size of the small plates to fit the size of the dishes. Pietsch cites Kaendler's workshop records, in which the sculptor recorded his work on the dishes in his spare time: "Five dishes, from no. 2 - no. 6, in the shape of a large shell and containing water upon which two swans swim alongside a heron holding a fish in its mouth and another flying above the water, for his excellence the Imperial Count of Brühl".
Work on dish no. 2 began immediately and was completed in July. The form maker Johann Martin Kittel (1706 - 1762) is mentioned especially for his work on the modelling and sculpting of "21 dishes of the 2nd design". Eighty one dishes were modelled by the elder Johann Elias Grund (1703 - 1758). Although the larger size was modelled often, it rarely appears on the market. Despite this, several museums house examples of dish no. 2, most notably American collections. Three examples of this size of plate are housed in public collections in German, namely one in the Museum für Kunsthandwerk Frankfurt (inv. no. 12131/RF347) and two in Lustheim palace.
Literature
Illus. in cat.: Blütenlese. Meißener Porzellan aus der Sammlung Tono Dreßen, Munich 2018, p. 95, no. 62.
Cf. also Rückert, Munich 1966, no. 510 and 511, examples from the collection of Dr. Ernst Schneider (now housed in Lustheim palace, inv. no. ES 1571 and ES 1573).
Cf. cat.: Schwanenservice. Meissener Porzellan für Heinrich Graf von Brühl, Dresden-Leipzig 2000, p. 28, illus. 26, p. 157 f.