A Meissen porcelain dish with the Althann-Daun arms of alliance
Oval dish with a scalloped rim. Painted in the centre with an arms of alliance against an ermine cloak beneath a princely crown and imperial orb. Faint blue crossed swords mark on the unglazed base. Minor wear to the gilding. H 2.2, W 15.8, D 14.5 cm.
Circa 1735.
In 1960, Paul Schnyder von Wartensee published the results of his research into this service in the “Heft der Schweizer Keramikfreunde” (no. 50, p. 43- 50). In this he revealed that the service, which was originally an extensive tea and hot chocolate service, was most likely commissioned by or gifted to Imperial Countess Anna Elisabeth von Althann, née Daun. All further publications about the service were based upon his findings.
Provenance
Mrs. Henry Ford II. Collection.
European private ownership.
Literature
Cf. Rückert, Munich 1966, no. 457, for a teapot with an identical coat-of-arms.
Cf. cat. Sammlung Hoffmeister, vol. II, Hamburg 1999, no. 309 and p. 596, for the rare sugar box with a hare finial from the service.
Cf. Pietsch, Passion for Meissen. Sammlung Said und Roswitha Marouf, Stuttgart 2010, no. 70, 71, for a double-handled cup and two saucers from the service.
The same bowl form in Cassidy-Geiger, Princes and Porcelain on the Grand Tour of Italy, in: dies., Fragile Diplomacy Meissen Porcelain for European Courts, New York 2007, p. 231 ff.