Unique coffee and tea service in the original case

On the sea-green ground:

The sea-green ground colour was first successfully used by Höroldt on 27 July 1726, as he reported to the manufactory commission (Loesch 2019, p. 49; Boltz in Keramos 148/1995, p. 23; Weber 2013 II, p. 404). Loesch — unlike Boltz and Weber — gives the same date but the year 1727, which must be a typographical error, since Höroldt, as Weber further notes, personally presented his colour achievements to Augustus the Strong in May 1727, showing so-called "Camin-Auffsätze", much to the Elector’s delight. Moreover, the bowl in the Ceramic Museum at Sèvres dated “27 August 1726” (Boltz 1995, fig. 12, p. 21) already painted with a sea-green ground, confirming its use by 1726.

The sea-green — used at Meissen as a term synonymous with celadon, turquoise and also "Meergrün" — of this bowl (Boltz, op. cit.) tends, as Weber also observes, more towards yellow than blue, a characteristic likewise found in our service. This demonstrates how varied ground colours could still appear, particularly during the early phase.

Höroldt’s colour innovations corresponded closely with Augustus the Strong’s plans for the decoration of the Japanese Palace. The arrangement of the rooms on the first floor, where Saxon porcelain was to be displayed above the East Asian wares on the ground floor, followed a colour scheme in which ground-coloured porcelains played a defining role. The sea-green porcelains were intended for the corner cabinet, which visitors entered immediately after passing through the large animal gallery (Weber 2014 II, p. 405; Sponsel 1900). After the death of Augustus the Strong, his son Augustus III continued the project and, on 26 November 1733, placed a major order with the Meissen manufactory comprising nearly 1,300 porcelains with a sea-green ground (Weber; Loesch, op. cit.).

Dating:

The porcelain of the travelling service must have been produced from 1729 onwards, as indicated by the caduceus mark on four of the cups (see following fig.). It is the earliest mark documented at Meissen, first recorded in use in 1722. In 1729, however, it was reintroduced in the context of the Hoym/Lemaire affair in order to accommodate Lemaire’s plans: Meissen Kakiemon porcelains were to be sold on the Parisian luxury market as Japanese Arita wares at very high prices.

The cups date from this period, even though the travelling service itself was probably not created for the Parisian merchant Lemaire. It may be assumed that the cups were produced in 1729 and later taken from stock to complete the service.

The decoration points to the early 1730s, the period in which the Meissen manufactory — prompted by the commissions of Lemaire and subsequently by Augustus III’s major order for the Japanese Palace — began to master fully the application of the sea-green ground.

This is further confirmed by the “Indian” flowers on our service, which correspond to the Japanese Kakiemon style in a highly individual manner. Unlike later stencil-painted versions produced in large numbers, the decoration on our service represents an independent painterly conception, executed as a gift or courtly commission.

On travelling services in cases:

Travelling services preserved in their original cases have always been highly prized, for clear reasons:

• they are extremely rare, and complete early services represent exceptional survivals;
• they are generally well preserved thanks to the fitted case with its tailored compartments;
• the original unity of service and case has lost none of the representative splendour for which such ensembles were conceived within the courtly culture of the eighteenth century;
• the services are distinguished by a particularly high painterly quality, reflecting their exclusive role as royal gifts and special commissions.

We have not been able to identify a comparable service with a sea-green ground preserved in its original case. In 2024, however, we exhibited at TEFAF Maastricht a travelling service in its original case with a yellow ground and harbour scenes in the manner of Christian Friedrich Herold.

For further literature on Meissen travelling services in cases, see Langeloh 2019, pp. 60–103, nos. 1–4.