Porcelain with white glaze, polychrome painting and gold accents
Germany, 1st half of the 19th century
After a model by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775) from the 18th century
Meissen porcelain factory - established in 1710
Underglaze blue crossed swords mark with a cancel mark, impressed ‘58’ and ‘26’, as well as over glaze red painter’s number ‘44’
Height, with lid: 32 cm each
Good condition
Provenance: Private ownership, Germany
A pair of impressive vases by one of the most important modelers of the Meissen porcelain factory
Estimate by Auctionata Expert: 3,600 Euro

The vases have slim bottle shapes with lids. The high oval vase bodies and the long cylindrical necks raise onto retracted circular bases. The domed lids feature sculptural canaries as crowning top pieces. The walls are all over covered with flowers of a snowball bush and adorned with several umbels. Two sides feature large green leaf tendrils and sculptural canaries. The flowers are embellished with a fine red and yellow painting.

Condition:

The vases are in good condition, showing some abrasion of the gilding and several small chips. The applications show several old restorations. The height is 32 cm each.

Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775)Kaendler was born to a clergy man and received a classical education. He began his education as a sculptor in Dresden with Johann Benjamin Thomae (1682–1751), where his talents were soon recognized. He joined Meissen in 1731, where he first worked as a model master and later as the head of the plastic department. He was especially honored in 1749, when he was named ‘Court Commissioner’. He first began creating naturalistic animal figures, later courtly and pastoral scenes, and is mostly known for his famous swan service. He is worldwide acknowledged as a genial creator of European porcelain figures.

Porcelain Manufactory Meissen

Porcelain has been known in Europe since the 13th century, but always had to be imported from China. Thus it was mostly of lower quality – the Chinese rarely gave their best ware to the foreigners – and extremely expensive. As demand for porcelain became greater, European alchemists tried to discover the formula to create hard-paste porcelain. The production of the first European hard-paste porcelain was the result of a collaboration between the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger and the scientist Ehrenfried Walther Graf von Tschirnhaus at the court of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, in Dresden. As a matter of fact, it was finally achieved for the first time in Europe in 1708 to produce a white hard paste porcelain and in 1710 Augustus established Europe’s first hard-paste porcelain factory in the Albrechtsburg, a palace in Meissen. The so-called ‘Böttgerporzellan’ actually had more of a stoneware quality and it was not until the year 1713 that white porcelain was available for purchase. Initially unmarked, the motif of the ‘crossed swords’ was developed in the early 1720s and used from 1723 onwards. Since then, beautifully modelled and painted figures and table services were produced at Meissen, establishing its reputation as the pre-eminent porcelain factory in Europe. Outstanding potters, modelers and painters, e.g. Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775), Johann Gottlieb Klinger (1701-1781) and Count Camillo Marcolini (1739-1814), were employed at the factory, which dominated the 18th century style of porcelain, and Meissen wares and figurines were imitated by craftsmen at other porcelain factories throughout Europe. Meissen celebrated its 300 years of existence in 2008. Until today, Meissen porcelain is known for highest quality and originality and greatly appreciated. (cko)

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