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Foreword
We
are delighted to present our 2005 Exhibition ‘Royal Splendour’. The
fourteen pieces in the catalogue have been chosen to illustrate the
richness, grandeur and height of style within the early period of each of
the four represented European and English manufactories.
The
Exhibition starts and centres on the Royal Armorial Chafing
dish, cover
and stand, this remarkable object was evidently made by
Meissen
to the personal order of Queen Maria-Josepha to mark the 25th Anniversary,
in 1745, of her marriage to Frederick-Augustus Elector of Saxony, King of
Poland. Although emblazoned with the arms of the King it is a tribute of
an intensely personal sort. The true importance of the commission is
revealed in Kaendler’s Taxa report, where the Queen’s personal
requirement that Kaendler should be involved in the design of this cabinet
piece, is clearly revealed.
The
form of the object is based on a conventional piece of silver and despite
the fact that its function is secondary to its decoration, it remains a
covert reference to both domestic comfort and harmony. Therefore this
important piece of
Meissen
is not only an emblem of unchanging love in a Royal marriage, but also a
tour de force of Ceramic art. The modeller J.J.Kaendler and the decorators
have not only alluded to the bond of love between two people but also to
Royal taste and patronage, both in the painted cartouches and flowers but
also in the acanthus moulded scrolled supports and the handle strut. Even
the triumphal palm fruit finial, like the borders of the Chafing dish, is
decorated in gold, which is a visual metaphor that extends the language of
flowers to encompass Virgil’s hemstich ‘Omnia Vincit Amour; et nos
cedamus Amori’ which translates as ‘Love conquers all; let us all
yield to love’. Royal commissions from
Meissen
are rare survivals and this is an object, which is complex in meaning and
decoration and therefore a work of art of the highest calibre of
craftsmanship and luxury.
No.
2 in the catalogue is the very fine Meissen Chinoiserie Teapot painted by
Christian Freidrich Herold. Herold deserves mention as one of
Meissen
’s finest enamellers. He was born in
Berlin
in 1700 and was recruited by J.G. Hoeroldt in 1724 to work at
Meissen
, to paint in imitation of the Chinese and Japanese manner. He probably
trained and learned the art of enamelling in the workshop of the steel
engraver and gunsmith Fromery in
Berlin
, this meant he was one of the most highly qualified enamellers at
Meissen
. He also spent many hours of his own time engaged in furthering gilding
techniques and different enamelling techniques, especially those that
created a thick relief characteristic or a lustrous quality in the glaze
as can be seen here in the eyes of the
Griffin
spout. He also continued his enamelling of copper and other metal boxes in
his spare time. J.G. Hoeroldt however sadly took a very dim view of this
shining example of enthusiasm and research and through his own insecurity
restricted his free time, did not guarantee him a wage and even forbade
him to indulge in further research. When, after thirty nine years toiling
and creating masterpieces of ceramic splendour, he asked for his pay to be
revalued, he was thrown into prison as an offender of common law on the
instructions of J.G.Hoeroldt. His quite brilliant research, particularly
into gilding improvements as can be seen here, was never acknowledged and
he continued to work at
Meissen
, despite tempting offers to move elsewhere, until his seventy-ninth year.
His intimate brush style and mastery of the figural form in all its poses
can be clearly seen on some of his signed pieces.
(No.
3) The important
Meissen
tankard painted with large Chinese figures by Johann Ehrenfried Stadler.
Here Stadler’s very specific blazing colour palette, strong in both iron
red and yellow, has an interesting use of blue, green and puce within the
subject matter and framing devices. This use of a riot of exotic colours,
together with the large size of his figures, creates a very striking
unique effect that is his interpretation of the Chinoiserie style.
One
of the jewels of the
Meissen
section is the small arched Tea caddy (No. 4) On this piece the painter
has designed the Royal hunting scenes to interact with each other. One
scene shows the yellow- jacketed Saxon Royal huntsman pursuing the deer
and her young. Deer were reserved purely for the King and his royal circle
to hunt, therefore the use of this subject matter as decoration on this
piece makes an interesting social statement and shows an understanding of
the social levels of hunting at that time.
The
next section of the catalogue shows superb examples of the modeller’s
art, (No. 5) the hares modelled by J.J.Kaendler create a timeless sense of
alert reaction as the Buck hits the ground with his front legs and rises
up on his hind legs. (No.6) The seated Harlequin modelled by J.F.Eberlein
again captures a sense of suspended motion as he teases the cat seated
beside his feet and lifts a dove out of its reach. This sense of drama
reaches a crescendo with (No.7) when we see Columbine feeding a parrot,
which perches in a tree above. However if the scene were allowed to carry
on the bird would be scared away by the scowling Harlequin as he rushes
into the scene and begins to create discord and mayhem.
The
Meissen
pieces finish with a pair of beautifully decorated plates, (No.8), from
the
Frederick
the Great service which have come from the collection of the great
American Newspaper Magnate William Randolph Hearst. They show very
delicate ornithological designs surrounded by some of the best flower
painting to be achieved at the factory and similar to the
‘Northumberland’ animal service at Alnick castle.
(No.9)
A monumental pair of Faience models of a seated Lion and Lioness have come
from a very old Private English collection, these of course symbolise the
‘King of Beasts’ it was the habit with such monumental models, in the
eighteenth century, to place them inside the entrance of the Country House
to act as Spiritual Guards of the home.
The
English pieces chosen for the catalogue start with (No. 10) the very rare
Chelsea peach-shaped cup and saucer, a very rare survival in its perfect
state and beautifully typifying Nicholas Sprimont’s advertisement, which
appeared in the Daily Advertiser on the 9th January 1750 ‘pieces…in a
Taste entirely new’. (No.11) Slightly earlier and from the early stage
of the incised triangle period at Chelsea, is a very exciting Chelsea
sauceboat based on a silver form and bearing all the ‘hallmarks’ of a
Sprimont design embracing the full meaning of the natural theme of the
rococo period. (Nos 12
and
13) The very elegant and unusual small Bow
vases and covers are decorated with designs taken from the Ladies
Amusement, the first vase, decorated with birds after a design by Charles
Fenn, has on its reverse insects and caterpillars that are very
reminiscent of the documentary Inkwell painted by James Welsh. The second
is painted in a wonderfully naturalistic style and palette with a Crane
and a Swan after engravings by Robert Hancock.
The
Exhibition finishes with a pair of early Bow vases and covers dating from
the period 1748-51, the period of production immediately after the
‘Mushroom’ bodied wares are encountered. Both vases are marked with an
incised or ‘Scratch R’ and are very fully decorated in the Imari
palette. They are without doubt some of the most important pieces of this
rare early type of Bow to be offered for sale in recent years and come
from an old Private English collection.
A
sense of Royal splendour can be found in all of these fourteen pieces for
in their own way they create a glimpse of the lavish intrigue of courtly
life that was centred around the Royal Courts of eighteenth century
Europe
.
We
very much look forward to seeing you here in the gallery and then at the
International Ceramics Fair and Seminar at the Park Lane Hotel, where we
are exhibiting on stand A4 from 16th-19th June.
Brian Haughton and Paul Crane
London 2005 |
