More Porcelain
Royal Sevres, France
18th Century Soft Paste - before they knew how to make real
porcelain
The
Sevres ecuelle above is my pride and joy of the Sevres.
Made as part of a dinner service in the 18th century,
there is a pair just like it in the Metropolitan Museum
of Art.
I got lucky and found this one at a great price, my first
year on eBay!
Click
image to enlarge.
Shown
above are two Sevres plates (also softpaste) and the ecuelle,
plus, a Meissen dog, explained below.
(The lady in the veranda is Italian and for sale.)
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The
Porcelain Zoo
by Kaendler and Kirchener,
18th C Meissen, Saxony
We first became infatuated with the world renowned, Meissen
Porcelain Zoo, on a trip to Dresden.
It was created in the early 18th century for Augustus the
Strong, King of Saxony
and founder of the Meissen factory.
The "zoo" was originally installed in a Japanse
teahouse on the palace grounds.
It was comprised of a group of life-size, porcelain animals
glazed in white.
We saw several of these original porcelain animal sculptures
at the Zwinger Museum in Dresden,
during our trip there with our German friend Helga, after
Maike and Stefan's wedding in 1994.
Others are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
and other museums around the world.
From a collector's perspective, the exquisite details of
the clay-modelling show off so well with the white glaze,
emphasizing the sculptural qualities of the porcelain.
Following are photos of some of the originals. Be sure to
enlarge them, so you can know what all the excitement is
about! They are miraculous accomplishments, never again
repeated on such scale.
Such heavy pieces as make up these life-size specimens are
really too large to fire. The originals have firing cracks
as a result of that fact, but, are none the less exquisite!
Click
images to enlarge.
The photos of the bear, pelican and turkey
(#3, #6, #7 above)
best show the details and workmanship.
On our way back to Bonn from Dresden, we stopped in Weimar
where we came across the white Meissen Spaniel (20th C.),
in the center, two rows below,
and brought him home. We have since added another Meissen
dog, in color, on the right below,
which is a famous model of a Bologneser Spaniel by Kaendler.
I ordered him from Germany, a few years ago; and Maike and
Stefan arranged shipping for me.
I gave him to Tom for his birthday. He is early 19th century.
Click
images to enlarge.
The
Meissen bird (below) is from the art nouveau period,
circa 1900. I found the bird and the 18th century wild boar
by Frankenthal on eBay.de, last year, and had them shipped
to us from Germany.
Click
images to enlarge.
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French
Terracottas
We also have a fondness for old, French terracotta sculptures.
They are rather hard to find. Below is a 19th century bust
based on the original, by Rodin, of one of his mistresses.
We found her while roaming around the antique shops in New
Hope, Pennsylvania,
with our friends the Henrichs, about 5 years ago. On her lower
left is a monkey-gentleman and his wife, created in the 18th
century, found two summers ago in Montreal.
Click
image to enlarge.
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Dutch
Friese Stoelklok
A
handmade, brass and painted-wood, Dutch Friese Stoelklock,
from the Friesland region in northern Holland, which is known
for this extravagant style.
Friesian
clocks were produced in small workshops, by hand, from the
late 17th to the early 20th centuries, with production flourishing
between 1825 and 1875.
Ours is probably from the 1870s.
Click
images to enlarge.
I ordered this funky one directly from Holland, to sell.
But, after un-packing it, Tom had other
ideas!
So, it is now hanging in our dining room.
(And you thought this craziness was JUST ME! Ha!)
You can see it properly hung with its weight,
in the recent, dining room photos.
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Continued...
Click
here
House
page 7
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