A MEISSEN CHARGER FROM THE SWAN SERVICE 1737-41

modelled by Johann Kändler and Johann Friedrich Eberlein, the center molded in low relief with a crane in flight above two swans and a crane amidst waves and rushes against a ground of spirally radiating shell-work, the reeded rim painted at the top with the arms of Count von Brühl and his wife, Anna von kolowrat-Krakowska, and scattered indianische Blumen within a gilt border at the edge, crossed swords marks in underglaze-blue.

Christie's London, April 11, 1988, lot 212, illustrated

There is an approximately 1.5-inch hairline crack running down on the side from the rim towards the bottom. The gilt edge of the plate is regilt in seperate places along the rim, measuring all together approximately 12 inches long.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Swan Service, perhaps the best-known product of the Meissen factory, comprised as many as 2,200 pieces, and was commissioned by Heinrich Graf von Brühl, Director of the Meissen factory, on the occasion of his marriage in 1737 to Gräfin Franziska von Kolowrat-Krakowska, whose coat of arms appears impaled with Brühl's on each piece. The modelling of this service was the work of Kändler and Eberlein, whose inspiration for its watery theme may have come from the literal translation of the name Brühl: "swampy meadow or marshy ground."

Originally thought to have derived from an engraving in Neu-vollständiges Reiss-Buch...von einem dieser Preiss-würdigen Kunst eyfrigst Ergebenen G. H., a manual published by Johann Leonhard Buggel in Nuremburg in 1700, it has been discovered by Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, "From Barlow to Buggel: A New Source for the Swan Service," Keramos, Number 119, January 1988, pp. 64-68, that the actual source is a print designed by Francis Barlow first published in 1654.

Production of this vast service was not completed until 1741, which accounts for some variation in the decoration and marks. The service remained in the family's possession until the late 19th century. From 1880 pieces were lent to museums in Dresden and Berlin or passed to collectors, so that by 1900 only 1,400 pieces remained at the family seat of Schloss Pförten. These remaining pieces were destroyed or disappeared at the end of the Second World War.

The service is discussed by Reiner Rückert, Meissner Porzellan, pp. 118ff., and more recently in "Frühes Meissner Porzellan," exhibition catalogue, Hetjens-Museum, 1997, no. 152.