A Meissen two-handled vase and cover circa 1725-30

of gadrooned form with broken-scroll handles, the  Boettger lustre gadroons gilt with scrollwork, the body and cover moulded with colourful flower sprays and a border of tasselled lappets, painted with Chinoiserie groups and floral vignettes below birds in flight, the domed cover with similar moulding and vignettes and with large gadrooned acorn finial, the moulded details picked out in green, blue and purple enamels and gilding (finial restored, handle finial re-stuck, other minor damage)

Franz Oppenheimer - F. Mannheimer Collection,  auction sale, Frederick Mueller, Amsterdam, 14 - 21st October 1952, lot 280

Maurice de Rothschild Collection; his (anon.) sale, Part II, Christie's, London, 17th October 1977, lot 7

with Kate Foster Antiques, London in 1978

Finial broken in two sections and restored, flat chip to the inside cover (c.1.5cm. x 0.5cm.), one handle broken and repaired, the other one with two minor parallel running horizontal firecracks, running across the handles into the body (c. 1cm.), and two small chips to the side of one lower scroll
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is one of three examples of this rare form which have some claim to having been decorated at the factory.The other two are similarly decorated, though neither has the Chinoiserie figure vignettes; one is in the Schneider Collection, Schloss Lustheim, illustrated by R. Rückert, Meissner Porzellan, pl. 12, and the other one in Dresden, illustrated by Handt and Rakebrand, Meissner Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts, pl. 9.

There are also three clearly outside-decorated examples; two also from the Mannheimer collection, sold Amsterdam, 14th-21st October 1952, lot 279, and later the Maurice Rothschild Collection, (anon. sale) Christie's, 28th March 1977, lot 2; and one from a private collection, illustrated by S. Ducret, Meissner Porzellan, pl. 374l., where Ducret attributes the Chinoiserie decoration to Elisabeth Wald.