A MEISSEN TWO-HANDLED TUREEN STAND FROM THE 'SWAN' SERVICE CIRCA 1740-41 |

modelled by 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, impressed numeral 27

There is an approximate 3/4-inch shallow chip to the edge of the rim at four o'clock and some minor rubbing to the gilding along the edges, touched up in one area near the handle. There are small circular areas in the center where the glaze has not taken, which are firing-related.
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.
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The Swan Service, perhaps the best-known and most ambitious undertaking 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 Johann Joachim Kändler and Johann Friedrich 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 was 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 around 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 in Silesia. These remaining pieces were destroyed or disappeared at the end of the Second World War.

The service is discussed in detail by Ulrich Pietsch, Schwanenservice : Meissner Porzellan Fur Heinrich Graf Von Brühl, where on pp. 154 and 155 the author notes that there are two sizes of this shape which were meant for stands to tureens. While the present example appears to be of the larger size, the smaller examples measured approximately 13 1/2  inches wide. 

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

Sotheby’s Scientific Research department used noninvasive XRF for this lot to screen the green enamel for chromium, which was not detected.