Lot 640 Dα

This beaker was probably delivered in connection with one of the first substantial deliveries of porcelain to Heinrich von Brühl, who was raised to the rank of an imperial count on 27th May 1737. Since the model is plainly potted and bears no sculpted appliques, it is not mentioned in Kaendler's workshop records, as he only worked on the more sumptuously modelled designs. The coat of arms is also found on the only two test plates for the Swan Service known to date, both of which have been published by Melitta Kunze-Köllensperger. It is interesting to note that neither the beaker nor the test plates bear the arms of alliance seen on the Swan Service, which was produced in large quantities at around the same time, although Count Brühl married Countess Maria Anna Franziska Kolowrat-Krakowska on 29th April 1734. The bells of the carillion produced in around 1740 and purchased by the Grand Ducal Library in Weimar, the forms of which are similar to that of this beaker, are also decorated with the couple's arms of alliance. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam houses a snuff box with the count's coat of arms painted upon a large bracket on its lid (inv. no. R.B.K. 17456).