A rare Meissen porcelain dish from the Swan Service
Platter of 29 cm diameter with crisply moulded shell reliefs and a scene of two swimming swans, a heron among reeds and a heron in flight above. The border painted with "indianische blumen" and the Brühl-Kolowrat-Krakovský arms of alliance. Blue crossed swords mark, incised III, unidentified former's mark with four concentrically arranged triangles (impressed cross). D 29.2, H c. 6.5 cm.
1738/39, model by Johann Joachim Kaendler.
In his function as director of the Meissen porcelain manufactory, ordered Heinrich Graf Brühl (1700 - 1763) a large dinner service in 1736, the production of which kept the manufactory busy for over five years. Johann Joachim Kaendler was largely responsible for the design, together with Johann Friedrich Eberlein. Every plate and every bowl was designed with the white swan motif that gave the service its name. Apart from this, the two modellers invented numerous new tableware and figurine models whose motifs were taken from aquatic fauna and flora. It is estimated that around 2000 individual pieces were created for the service during this period.
Most of the Schwanenservice (swan dinner service) was still in Schloss Pförten in 1945 when the 1st Ukranian Front marched on the former Landkreis Sorau in Lausitz on 13th February. A short time later, the soldiers entered Pförten castle and blasted open the door to the porcelain depot. The force of this explosion must have been so great that it scattered the porcelain, causing much of it to be destroyed or damaged. Nevertheless, many pieces, even in good condition, later found their way into museum and private collections via the art trade, such as this dish.
Provenance
Röbbig, Munich.
Private collection, Westphalia since 1995.
Literature
Another dish of this size (D 29.7 cm) is housed in the Clark Art Institute, ob. no. 1972.4.