A rare Meissen porcelain plate dedicated to August the Just
Scalloped dish with acanthus reliefs, decorated in the centre with a gold medallion entwined by ivy vines surrounding a depiction of two genii and a potrait plaquette of the Saxon king inscribed: "Erhabner Fürst wir weyhn Voll Ehrfurcht Deiner Gunst Dieß Denkmahl Pflicht, und der geliebten Kunst, Hat es Durchlauchtigster, das Glück Dir zu gefallen, So bleibt uns dieser Tag Der heiterste von allen." Signed "Loehnig" in the lower right, blue crossed swords mark with star and 4., pressnummer 69. With a restored chip to the rim at 12 o'clock. D 23.8 cm.
Around 1775, decor signed by Johann George Loehnig.
The particularly finely rendered depiction on this plate was painted by Johann George Loehnig (1743 - 1806). He was among the "Historien und Genies Mahlern 1. Classe" (first class painters of narrative and genius scenes) in Meissen between 1764 and 1770. In 1786 he was still listed as a "figure painter of the most excellent class" in the painter's directories of the manufactory. Loehnig frequently referred to the engraving upon which these putti were based, which was provided by Johann Eleazar Zeissig (1737 - 1806), called Schenau, who in turn was inspired by François Boucher (1703 - 1770). The sheet with this scene, which varies only slightly from the design used on the porcelain, is today housed in the collection of the Meissen State Porcelain Manufactory (inv. no. VA 3271).
Provenance
The Dr. Annedore Müller-Hofstede Collection.
Literature
Illus. in Müller-Scherf / Müller-Hofstede, "Erhabner Fürst wir weyhn voll Ehrfurcht Deiner Gunst Dieß Denckmahl unsrer Pflicht, und der geliebten Kunst". Ein Meißener Widmungsteller für August den Gerechten, in: Keramos 224/ 2014, p. 24.
Cf. also a detail image of a plate illustrated in Müller-Scherf, Wertherporzellan, Lotte und Werther auf Meißener Porzellan im Zeitalter der Empfindsamkeit, Petersberg 2009, p. 57, illus. 67.