A MEISSEN PORCELAIN PLATE FROM THE 'CHRISTIE-MILLER' SERVICE, CIRCA 1740 |

painted at the centre with figures on horseback beneath a cluster of trees with a palace on the opposite riverbank, within a gilt diaper border reserving four puce camaïeu landscape quatrelobe medallions, the rim with a rich gilded border of foliate scrollwork reserving four polychrome quatrelobe landscapes, crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue, impressed 22,

The Property of The Trustees of the late S.R. Christie-Miller, Esq., sold Sotheby's London, 7th July 1970, lot 34 (part);
Private Collection, Switzerland, Sotheby's Geneva, 14th November 1989, lot 12;
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

The upper right corner of the dish has a restored flat chip to the front edge, which was present when sold at Sotheby's Geneva, 14th November 1989. The plate has four small areas of stacking wear to the gilded border at the inner well, visible in the catalogue illustration.
"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."

Sixty-one pieces from this service were included in the 1970 sale at Sotheby's. The service had been in the possession of the Christie-Miller family from about 1840 when it was bought, according to family tradition, in Paris from a member of the Orleans family. It was acquired by Samuel, M.P. for Newcastle-under-Lyme, 1847-1859. The 18th century provenance of the service still remains unclear. The sumptuous quality of the decoration has led to the suggestion that the service may have been a gift to the French court by Augustus III of Poland. His daughter Maria Josepha would later marry the Dauphin Louis Ferdinand in 1747.

Before the Sotheby's sale only two pieces of the service had been published, a large dish, 34cm. in diameter in the Kunst und Gewerbe museum, Hamburg (Ernst Zimmermann, Meissner Porzellan, Leipzig, 1926, p. 156, fig. 46); and a similar plate in the V&A museum, London (W. B. Honey, Dresden china: an introduction to the study of Meissen porcelain, London, 1934, pp. 97, 168, pl. xxiv b). The principal graphic sources for the painted scenes are the engravings by Melchior Küsel after Johann Wilhelm Baur published in Augsburg in 1681.