Lot 712 Dα

Around the year 1772 - 1774, Willem V (1748 - 1806), Stadtholder of the Netherlands, received an extensive Meissen porcelain dinner service which is thought to have been a gift from the Dutch East India Company. Each of the 435 original pieces of the service were painted with Dutch and Colonial views after contemporary engravings. The majority of items from this service are today housed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn and in the Kasteel Duivenvoorde in Voorschoten, but some pieces have also found their way into American, German, English and Netherlandish private collections.

The service can be dated due to a note in Johann Joachim Kaendler's workshop records from October 1772 which reads: "Einen ziemlich großen Löwen, welcher auf eine Ovale Terrine welcher Service vor den Stadthalter nach Holland bestellet ist modelliret. Es ist solcher sietzend Vorgestellet, hält in seiner rechten Pfote die zu samen gebunden Pfeile, hat auf seinem Kopffe eine Crone, worauf die Worte in Lateinischen Buchstaben stehen: Ostindianische Compagnie. Solches Modell habe auch Zerschnitten und Zum abformen gegeben." The workshop records were only transcribed in 2002 by Ulrich Pietsch and contained many surprises, such as the fact that the service was commissioned and produced at a much later date than originally assumed.