Plat en porcelaine de Meissen provenant du «Japanisches Palais», circa 1729-31

A Meissen dish from the Japanese Palace, circa 1729-31

Painted in Kakiemon style with the 'Gelber Löwe' pattern of a tiger curling around bamboo facing flowering prunus issuing from a tree-stump, brown-edged rim, 22.2cm across, crossed swords mark in blue enamel, incised Japanese Palace inventory number N=8-/ W
Footnotes:
For a comprehensive discussion of the history of the 'Gelber Löwe' service in the 18th century, see Julia Weber, Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, vol. II (2013), pp. 265-274. The 'Gelber Löwe' pattern was first produced at Meissen after a Japanese porcelain original as part of the large order placed by the Paris merchant, Rudolph Lemaire, for copies of Asian porcelain. A large quantity of plates and dishes painted in this style were among the porcelain confiscated in April 1731 in the house of Lemaire's accomplice at the Dresden court, Count von Hoym, and subsequently sent to the Japanese Palace and entered in the inventory under no. 8. This present lot belongs to this group and is therefore one of the earliest examples of this decoration.

The 1770 inventory of the Japanese Palace records: '..Nur 60. Stück..runde tiefe Schaalen, von differenter Größe, mit braunen Rändern, Löwen, blauen Rohr und andren Blumen nach alt Indianischer Art gemahlet, No. 8' [..only 60..round deep dishes, of different sizes, with brown rims, lions, blue tubes and other flowers painted in old Indian style] (quoted by C. Boltz, Japanisches Palais-Inventar 1770 und Turmzimmer-Inventar 1769, in Keramos 153 (July 1996), p. 72).

In good condition.