1786, UNDERGLAZE BLUE SCEPTRE MARK, PRESSNUMMER 61.

Details

A Berlin Royal plate from Frederick the Great's blue-ribbon service
1786, underglaze blue sceptre mark, Pressnummer 61.
The centre painted with a bouquet of flowers including pink roses and viola and with four scattered butterflies, the border with a garland of gilt berried laurel woven around a continuous waved broad blue ribbon, the hexafoil rim with a gilt line
9¾ in. (24.6 cm.) wide

Literature

Erich Köllmann and Margarete Jarchow, op. cit. (Munich 1987), Vol. II, p.455, fig. 299.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Unusually among Berlin table wares, this service shows a clear debt to Sèvres. This could possibly be due to the presence in Vienna of the service given by Louis XV to the Empress Maria Theresa which had a similar arrangement of ribbon and garland, but in green. Although the Empress was Frederick's arch enemy, it has been suggested that Frederick's brother, Prince Heinrich von Preussen, who visited Vienna and may have seen the service, might have given the King the idea. In relation to this it is interesting to note that the Royal library built in the centre of Berlin between 1774-80 was derived from the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.

It is currently not known which palace this plate was ordered for.

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