A Berlin KPM porcelain vase with views of Berlin
Model "Münchner Vase No. 2", fired in two parts and screw-mounted. Decorated with eight finely painted views of Berlin around the centre within ogee arches with Gothic tracery above a blue band with facing sphinxes bearing purple shields labelling the views. The vedutas divided by slender columns crowned by Prussian eagles on brackets. The lower section with a radial design of lancet arches containing ears of wheat. The neck with gilt trellis pattern and the lip with a band of Gothic foliage on blue ground. Blue sceptre mark, red imperial orb mark, incised II. H 62, handle width 44 cm.
Circa 1838, the decor designed by Carl August Menzel after Carl Daniel Freydanck and Johann Christian August Walter.
An entry in the royal "contobuch" lists this vase as one of a pair which are thought to have been presented to the Bavarian Crown Prince Maximilian (later Maximilian II) as a birthday gift on 15th October 1838. The attention to detail in the naming of the views to be depicted in the order shows the patron's pride in the new architectural image of the city that presented itself on the boulevard "Unter den Linden". The views are labelled from left to right as follows: "Palais Sr. Majestät des Königs.", "Die Königs-Wache.", "Die Werdersche Kirche.", "Die königl. Bau-Academie.", "Das Schauspielhaus.", "Das Potsdammer Thor.", "Das Museum." and "Die Sternwarte."
Provenance
Purchased from a Berlin private collection on 15th February 2005.
Literature
SPSG, KPM-Archiv, inv. no. Z 137; Pret 2, entry from 15th October 1838, p. 139: "Sr. Königl. Hoheit dem Kronprinzen von Bayern/I Vase Münchner No.2 mit coul: 8 Berliner Prospekten in Gold Schilder rund herum, als; Ansicht vom Schauspielhause, Potsdamerthor, Museum, Sternwarte, Königs Palais, neue Wache, Werdersche Kirche u. Bauschule, nebst Blau, Braun u. Gold Dec."
Wittwer (ed.), Raffinesse & Eleganz, Munich 2007, no. 115.
Exhibitions
Raffinesse & Eleganz - Königliche Porzellane des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts aus einer amerikanischen Privatsammlung, Berlin, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten, Schloss Charlottenburg, 28th July - 4th November 2007
Die Sammlung Cohen. Porzellane der grossen Manufakturen 1800 - 1840. Wien, Liechtenstein Museum, 16th November 2007 - 11th February 2008
Refinement & Elegance - Early 19th-Century Royal Porcelain from an American private collection, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 9th September 2008 - 19th April 2009