Meissen, circa 1735 Porcelain barrel-shaped covered... Lot 41

Meissen, circa 1735 Porcelain barrel-shaped covered box resting on a square base, the silver lid mount and an oval tray with a contoured edge in porcelain; the barrel with polychrome and gold decoration in the Kakiemon style of flowering branches and hoops in red, the cover in the form of a lion with a brown background, the tray with iron red and gold decoration said to be of a red dragon after a Japanese model of dragons, phoenix, ribbons, scrolls and piastres. Marked : crossed swords in blue. Incised mark under the plate: ?+ Discharge mark on the silver frame: Paris, 1732-1738. They are contained in a red morocco case with a patina, gilded, fine friezes on the edges and fleur-de-lys on the lid, the interior lined with crimson velvet and gold and silver braids of the Louis XV period. Barrel: Height 11 Long. 8.5 cm. Tray : Long. 21 cm Width. 13 cm. Case : Height 14 cm Long. 23 cm Width 15 cm (The handle of the barrel lid is stuck). A ca. 1735 porcelain barrel-shaped box and oval tray by Meissen. Both decorated with Japan inspired patterns, the rims of the box lined with silver, its lid topped with a lion. Comes in a red morocco leather case with gold markings. Louis XV period. The tray The decoration of the tray is based on a Japanese original and was first produced in Meissen, perhaps as early as the summer of 1729, for the merchant Rodolphe Lemaire who planned to pass off the Asian porcelain copies he had ordered from Meissen in Paris as originals and thus sell them at a higher price. After Lemaire's scam was discovered and the porcelain he ordered was confiscated and sent to the Japanese Palace, it seems that the porcelain with this decoration was first allowed to be sold to the public. It is likely that Augustus the Strong reserved the pattern for the exclusive use of the court shortly before his death on February 1, 1733. In early November 1734, his successor, Augustus III, chose the "Red Dragon" pattern to decorate the first Dresden court service in Meissen porcelain. The first delivery followed in 1735 (Julia Weber, Meissener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, 2013, vol. 2, pp. 246-254). The barrel The form of the barrel with the upper third as a lid does not seem to be recorded and its function remains unknown. Several forms of Meissen porcelain barrel serving as a coffee fountain and alcohol fountain to accompany coffee are known. One of the earliest, in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich, is dated around 1728 (see R. Rüchert, Meissener Porzellan 1710-1810, Munich, 1966, color plate X, no. 277). The sculptor Johann Joachim Kaendler made a base for these barrels in 1735 and revised the model in 1738. Unlike our barrel, it is in one piece, i.e. without a lid, closed above by a stopper topped by a bacchic child figure. A royal present? In March 1737, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland August III made a present of Meissen porcelain to Marie Leszczynska, Queen of France. It is a tea, coffee and chocolate service decorated with landscapes and the arms of France and Poland. The service was placed in a red leather case decorated in chased gold and consisted of twelve tea bowls, twelve saucers, twelve chocolate cups with their support, a rinsing bowl, a chocolate pot, a milk pot, two teapots and a teapot support, a sugar box and a tea box. It was entrusted to Maurice de Saxe, half-brother of Augustus III, to be taken to France. The merchant-mercier Jean Charles Huet, agent of the Meissen factory in Paris, was paid in September 1737 for his role in the delivery of the service. Augustus II of Saxony had already sent in 1728 to Cardinal de Fleury, Louis XV's tutor in his younger years, an extraordinary and very important gift of Meissen porcelain, most certainly to facilitate the future succession to the Polish throne, to which Stanislaus I Leszczynski, the father of the Queen of France, claimed. In 1737, Augustus III's gift to the daughter of the former king of Poland was probably also motivated by the desire to make a gesture of goodwill and the desire to re-establish more serene relations with the French court. At the same time, Augustus III wrote to Cardinal de Fleury that he was re-establishing his ambassador to France. The chocolate pot, milk jug, covered coffee pot, five tea bowls, and three chocolate cups from this diplomatic porcelain gift recently reappeared at public auction and entered the collections of the Château de Versailles. The Palace of Versailles also acquired the rinsing bowl from the same service. The teapot is part of the Gilbert Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. More text on www.rouillac.