A round Berlin KPM porcelain dessert basket from the wedding service for Princess Friederike von Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Prince Friedrich Ludwig von Preußen
Model no. 631. Decorated with a bird perching on a fruit branch surrounded by insects in flight. The basketweave mouldings picked out in gold and puce. Blue sceptre mark, pressnummers 17 and 48, incised II. H 8.8, W 22.1 cm.
1793/94.
Like Crown Prince Frederick William and his bride, Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, her younger siblings Prince Louis and Friederike also received a dinner and dessert service as a gift from the bride's father, King Frederick William II, on the occasion of their wedding in December 1793 - two days after that of the crown prince and bridegroom. The "Englischglatt" model was chosen; the decoration corresponds to that of the famous "Antikglatt" service for the Pfaueninsel, which was delivered in 1795. A precise list of the details of the model, decoration and size of the service, which was designed for 36 covers, can be found in the "Conto-Buch Sr. Majestät des Königs".
Provenance
Former G. and H. Rohloff Collection, Berlin.
Literature
Cf. entry of 16 December 1793 in the Conto Book of His Majesty the King, 1791-1796, KPM Archive Potsdam, p. 30.
Cf. cat. Friedrich Wilhelm II. und die Künste. Preußens Weg zum Klassizismus, Berlin 1997, cat. V.47.
Cf. cat. Berliner Porzellan. Glanz und Eleganz von Tischen und Tafeln 1763 - 1850, Münster 2006, cat. no. 135 for a leaf-shaped dish from this service painted with "colourful naturalistic birds on fruit sprigs with small insects, alongside a gold and purple a la greque border" for Peacock Island.