A Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica ice cloche on stand
Rare decorative vessel, labelled "Andromeda tetragona L.", "Viola Mühlenbergiana", "Iberis nudicaulis L." and "Potentilla hirsuta Vahl." on the undersides. Blue waves mark, green stamped mark ROYAL COPENHAGEN DENMARK, green painter's marks. H 27.5, D 31 cm.
Around 1990.
The name of the Flora Danica dinner service is derived from an encyclopaedic publication by the Ansbach botanist Christian Georg Oeder (1728 - 1791), which he wrote on behalf of the Danish king. The botanical atlas was richly illustrated with depictions of plants in different stages of their growth. The books impressed the Danish Crown Prince and later King Frederick IV so much that he ordered a porcelain service with this decor from the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Copenhagen for the Russian Tsarina Catherine II. Catherine did not live to see the completion of the extensive order - she died in 1796, so the service remained in Denmark. The magnificent original version of this service, including vases and flower baskets, can be admired today in Rosenborg Palace.
In 1863, the manufactory produced the first new edition of the service for the wedding of the Danish Princess Alexandra to the British King Edward VII, after which the manufactory included the service in its catalogue. It is still elaborately produced by hand today and is considered one of the most expensive services in the history of porcelain. In 2006, it was included in the canon of Danish cultural heritage.
Provenance
Private collection, Westphalia.
Literature
The original name of this model was a "chestnut pot" (cf. Flach/Krueger, "Maroni heiß und lecker". Kastanientöpfe aus Porzellan, Fayence, Steingut und Steinzeug, Holzminden 2010, cat. no. 270).