A Berlin (KPM) cabaret service, circa 1795-1800
Each piece finely painted with a figure of Emma, Lady Hamilton performing her 'Attitudes', within elaborate geometric gilt cartouches, set against a pale salmon or peach coloured ground, with foliate gilt bands and raised geometric patterns enclosed by red enamel lines, the saucers with similar gilding, comprising an oval tray, a coffee pot and cover, a milk jug and cover, a teapot and cover, a tea canister and cover, and two coffee cans and saucers, the tray 33cm long, the coffee pot 14cm high, sceptre marks in underglaze blue, various impressed numerals, letters and workmen's signs (13)
Footnotes:
Provenance
Christie's King Street, 9th July 2001, Lot 267

This lavish presentation set was one of the highlights of the National Maritime Museum's major exhibition in 2016-17. Titled 'Emma Hamilton, Seduction and Celebrity', the focus of the exhibition was Emma's scandalous life, the enormous influence she had on the Arts of Georgian England and the many artists who made her their muse. The accompanying book by Kate Williams and Quentin Colville illustrates this set across pages 158-173, along with the print sources which form the basis of the decoration.

When the young Emma Hart was an aspiring actress, she became a mistress of Charles Greville, second son of the Earl of Warwick. Greville introduced her to his friend, the painter George Romney, who made her his lifelong muse and started painting her in a variety of guises. Through the popularity of Romney's paintings, and her striking beauty, Emma became well-known in society circles. Meanwhile, because he had other love interests, Greville persuaded his uncle, Sir William Hamilton, to take on Emma as his own mistress. Sir William, the British Envoy at the court of Naples, had met Emma in London and in 1786 he invited Emma and her mother to Naples, putting them up in an apartment at the Palazzo Sessa. Emma enjoyed her new status as Sir William's mistress and they eventually married on 6 September 1791.

Soon after her arrival in Naples, Emma started performing her 'Attitudes', a type of tableau vivant, posing in a gold-edged black box in various costumes. Emma copied the poses of the ancient Greek figures painted on Sir William Hamilton's collection of antique vases. This new type of performance quickly caught on, and Emma's Attitudes were soon the talk of the upper classes throughout Europe. In 1787, during a visit to Sir William in Naples, the writer Goethe witnessed one of Emma's performances...

'...The Knight Hamilton has now found the peak of the joy of nature and art in a pretty girl. He has had a Greek gown made for her which clothes her perfectly, to which she lets her hair fall freely, takes a couple of shawls and does a mixture of poses, gestures, expressions etc., so that one thinks one is dreaming. Standing, kneeling, lying, serious, sad, coy, rakish, penitent, beckoning, threatening, fearful etc., one follows the other. He finds in her all the Antique, all the pretty profiles of Sicilian coins, even that of the Belvedere Apollo.'

(translated from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Italienische Reise - Ausgabe beider Bände (reprint 2016), pp.165f).

On this remarkable Berlin cabaret set, the depictions of Lady Hamilton's Attitudes are copied from the prints by engraver Tommaso Piroli after drawings by Friedrich Rehberg. Sketched initially in 1791, these were first published in Rome in 1794 in a volume titled 'Drawings Faithfully Copied from Nature at Naples'. Rehberg's book helped to spread Emma's fame far and wide and the printed images were much copied. Related images were used by many other porcelain decorators including Thomas Baxter and the Chamberlain factory.