Beschreibung:

A Rare Early Set of Six Meissen Teabowls and Saucers, Circa 1722-23
the teabowls painted with figures before various sailing vessels on the water, including a storm scene, the reverses with branches of indianische Blumen and insects, the saucers with figures on the shoreline beside fort structures or in front of sailing ships, within Böttger lustre, iron-red, puce and gilt foliate scrollwork-edged shaped quatrefoil cartouches, gilt-edged rims, the interiors of the saucers painted with iron-red monochrome water landscapes, incised mark X , / or // to inside edges of footrimsCondition reportFor further information on the condition of this lot please contact frankie.mananzan@sothebys.com Catalogue noteThe scenes likely derive from, or are inspired by the engravings by Stefano Della Bella perhaps from the series Paysages Maritimes 1620–1664, but more likely the series Vue de Ports de Mar, published in 1647.
Pieces from a second service painted with maritime scenes from this early date include a teapot, formerly in the Collection Dr. Paul Schnyder von Wartensee, Lucerne, sold, his executors' sale, Sotheby's London, June 29, 1982, lot 101, and most recently at Sotheby's London, A Tale Of Two Cities: Venice And Dresden Two Private Collections, June 9, 2015, lot 5. Interestingly the teapot was painted with the same scene featured on one of the present saucers showing a blacksmith and an upturned dinghy.
Meissen porcelain services decorated with maritime scenes are rare. Pieces from a slightly later service, painted, possibly by C. F. Herold, with maritime scenes derived from Stefano Della Bella include a waste bowl from the Collection of Margarethe and Dr. Franz Oppenheimer, Berlin & Vienna. The bowl was restituted back to the Heirs in 2021 and was sold at Sotheby's New York, September 14, 2021, lot 90.
Sotheby's Scientific Research department used noninvasive XRF for this lot to screen the green enamel for chromium, which was not detected.