A PAIR OF MEISSEN HERRING GULLS CIRCA 1750

the model attributed to Johann Joachim Kändler, each standing amongst reeds on a circular grassy mound base, one with its left foot raised, crossed swords marks in underglaze blue.

Collection of Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, Vienna, Austria
Collection of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, Vienna, Austria
Collection of Irwin Untermyer Hackenbroch, New York
Property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, sold, Sotheby's, Monaco, May 26, 1980, lot 431

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Masterpieces of European Porcelain, March-May, 1949, no.283

Yvonne Hackenbroch, Meissen and Other Continental Porcelain, Faience and Enamel in the Untermyer Collection, 1956, pl. 16, p. 18

Both birds have some minor chips and touch-ups to the reeds . The bird on the right in the catalogue illustration: There is restoration to the overlapping sections of tips of the wings. A 4 inch section of the edge of the base at the back has been broken off and restored back with some over-painting along the break line. The repaired break also issues a long fine haircrack extending upward through the grasses and curving around and ending at a point below the bird's tail feathers. Another 4 inch section of the edge of the base has similarly been broken and restored back at the front of the base through the gull's webbed foot. There is a very fine haircrack originating along the edge of the bird's tail beneath the black portion of the wing tips and extends horizontally towards the body, where it forks and runs across the back of the bird, where the tail meets the body, ending and forking in two short directions at a corresponding point on the reverse of the bird. There is a fine haircrack running across the bird's back beneath its neck from one side to the other but not extending through the breast; and another haircrack running across the underside of the bird near its leg, from where its body meets the rushes to the wing. Apart from the restored wing tips, the bird has not been into pieces and the haircracks are probably related to the original damage to the base. The bird on the left on the catalogue illustration: Nearly half of the base has been broken nearly in half along firing crack at the back and restored. The break line runs across the base up into the grasses at the back down through one corner of the bird's webbed foot. The entire tail section of the bird has been off and repaired; there is some minor loss along the break line. One wing tip has been chipped away.
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.

Carl Albiker, Die Meissner Porzellantiere, (1959) p. 15 and pl. 91 illustrates a similar gull and attributes the model to Kändler, circa 1753, based on its model number 2014. Unfortunately Kändler's work reports for the period 1749-1764 do not survive; and the dating of pieces by sequential model numbers, which are known to have been reused and also used out of sequence, is not entirely reliable. Abraham L. den Blaauwen, Meissen Porcelain in the Rijksmuseum, p. 415, no. 303 illustrates a similar pair of gulls in the musuem's collection and suggests a date of circa 1750 on stylistic grounds. Similar pairs of gulls were in the Wrightsman Collection, formerly in the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York, and sold at Sotheby's, New York, April 14, 1980, lot 120. Den Blaauwen, ibid, also notes the existence of six further pairs or single birds (not specifed), including a pair which remain in the Sheafer Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and a single bird sold at Sotheby's, London, May 5, 1970, lot 98 and again in the same rooms on July 10, 1973, lot 116. Another similar pair from the Property of  Laurence S. Rockefeller was sold in these rooms, October 11, 2005, lot 201.