Meissen Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur Lot n° 66

Round bowl from the Vestunen service for King Frederick II. Porcelain. French design model. Blue swords mark, turner number 36. Minimal chips to the stand ring, one to the rim. D 30 cm Meissen, 1763, the model by Johann Joachim Kaendler. After the peace treaty of Hubertusburg between the Prussian, Austrian and Saxon royal families in February 1763, the Seven Years' War was finally over and people looked forward to more peaceful times. On the occasion of the regained peace, Frederick II commissioned the Meissen manufactory in November of the same year to produce one of the most extensive and personal services with around 60 place settings and lavish figural table decorations. Kaendler's work report of November 11, 1763, published by Samuel Wittwer, states: "First of all, Your Royal Majesty requests a completely new table service with antique hanging vestments, which are attached to d'amour's heads and are raised flat, for which Your Royal Majesty has given a drawing in his own hand; [....The decoration is to consist of beautiful flowers, such as roses, poppies, carnations, hyacinths, poplars, tulipans, monstroses, in particular also with beautiful auriculas well arranged, whereby Your Royal Majesty has graciously ordered that never more than 2 flowers are to be painted on a plate or bowl, and that they are to be arranged proportionately and with consideration so that the colors do not clash. It has also been ordered that this service shall be called the Vestunen Servis." (op. cit., p. 68 f.) The name of the service has become history through this written source. The word vestunen = festoons refers to the flower garlands that decorate the vessels and plates, the shaping of which can be described as the most elaborate stage of production. Only very few pieces from the service are known. The Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in Krefeld owns a tureen and a roasting dish, while the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg owns two warming bells and the centerpiece described in detail by Kaendler. The Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts has two of the dessert or fruit baskets from former Hohenzollern property as well as an unpainted flat plate. In the Dresden Porcelain Collection there is one of originally 240 flat dinner plates. The five-piece centerpiece of the figurative table decoration for the Vestunen service has been preserved in the Munich Residence Museum; the king wanted it undecorated. Before the Second World War, the Potsdam City Museum possessed one of the 20 warming bells; it is considered a war loss. We would like to thank Mr. Dag Nabrdalik for the text contribution. Literature For a detailed history of the service, see Wittwer, "hat der König von Preußen die schleunige Verfertigung verschiedener Bestellungen ernstlich begehret" - Friedrich der Große und das Meißener Porzellan, in: Keramos 208/2010, pp. 67 - 74.