Meissen 1729 / 30
Enamel blue swords mark; early palace no. ‘N=8-W’ (Boltz section d)
Ø 21 cm (= 9 Saxonian inch)
Provenance: Count Hoym (1729/1731); August the Strong (1731 Royal Collection in the Japanese Palace); Lord Robinson (1737) or August III. (1738 Warsaw Royal Residence)
The royal court service with the Yellow Lion (Gelber Löwe) motif goes back to the former manufactory director Count Hoym. His collaboration with the Parisian merchant Rudolphe Lemaire gave the impetus to create a Meissen service carrying this special motif adapting a Japanese model. In 1731, after the Hoym-Lemaire affair was uncovered, 245 porcelains with this particular decor were confiscated and incorporated into the Royal Collections. Among them was our dish, which received the palace mark N = 8-W.
After August's coronation as King of Poland (17.01.1734) the service was extended by further 96 parts. These porcelains received the palace number N=149-W. The Yellow Lion service was exclusively intended for the Royal table.
In 1737, August separated parts of his service and gave it as a gift to the British Ambassador Lord Robinson in gratitude for his support during the War of the Polish Succession (‘Polnischer Erbfolgekrieg’). The remaining pieces were sent to the Warsaw Royal Residence to serve as the court service there. Of this historically important Service with palace number N=149-W – first royal order for court service at all – only 4 pieces have proven to be kept until today – including a large plate in our possession.
From the dishes with the palace no. N = 8-W we still have found 24 pieces in significant collections today.
Please contact us for the complete expertise.
Boltz, Claus: Japanisches Palais-Inventar 1770 und Turmzimmer-Inventar, 1769. In Keramos 153/1996
Weber, Julia: Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, Band I. München 2013
Weber, Julia: Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, Band II. München 2013
Boltz, Claus: Hoym, Lemaire und Meißen – Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Dresdner Porzellansammlung. In Keramos 88/1980