A very rare set of four Meissen porcelain Imari bowls, covers and stands, circa 1740
Auction Closed
June 24, 04:51 PM GMT
Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
painted in Chinese export style, each with a flower-filled vase in underglaze-blue, enriched in iron-red and gilding, the rims with leafy bands, the underside with trailing flowers, crossed swords and K marks in underglaze-blue, impressed numerals to bowls, inventory marks in ink
(12)
Width of stands 8 ¾ in; largeur des présentoirs 22,2 cm
The princely collection of Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram, Regensburg;
Die Fürstliche Sammlung Thurn und Taxis, Sotheby's, Regensburg, 16 and 18 October 1993, lot 2876.
A comparatively small number of Meissen objects decorated in this rare Imari pattern appear to be recorded. Among those, a saucepan and cover from the Schneider collection is illustrated in Julia Weber, Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, Stiftung Ernst Schneider in Schloss Lustheim, Band II, Munich, 2013, pp. 89-90, cat. no. 69, where the author notes a small oval tureen in the pattern is in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden, inv. no. PE 5342. A number of plates in this pattern have sold at auction, including one from the Collection of Dr Edward G. Schiffman, sold, Sotheby’s, New York, 20 October 1994, lot 232; another sold at Sotheby’s, London, 12 September 2000, lot 39; two sold at Christie’s, London, 8 July 2002, lot 272; and a further two from the West collection, sold at Christie’s, New York, 18 October 2017, lot 740. It is conceivable that these pieces once formed a larger Imari-patterned service.
The border decoration was used for a Chinese export armorial service, delivered in 1712 to Dr. William Walker of Hertfordshire. A plate from this service was sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 2 February 2019, lot 721.