European Porcelain

In the field of European porcelain, Ahlden Castle was able to make a significant contribution to market development and to continuously develop it, particularly in the case of early pieces from Meissen. This is demonstrated by the numerous figurines modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler, which express his masterful, sculptural talent in their extremely vivid depiction. These include two extraordinary hares modelled around 1745 (sold for 55,000 euros), but also an extremely rare bagpipe player from the same period (sold for 32,000 euros) and a lady at the spinet with a cavalier (sold for 50,000 euros), which is one of the so-called crinoline groups, a series of cabinet pieces in which Kaendler arranges courtly noble ladies in wide hoop skirts with charming cavaliers to create fully sculptural love groups. In the 18th century, when marriages for love were the exception, such depictions became symbols of allegories of longing that were only represented in the private sphere.

Baroque, highly aristocratic table culture is particularly represented by the magnificent Meissen swan service, which was made between 1737 and 1742 for the Saxon statesman Heinrich Graf von Brühl. A very early version of a plate from a first delivery in 1737/38 was particularly popular among collectors (sales price: 26,000 euros). Johann Joachim Kaendler modelled the figurine group "Omphale and Hercules with Cupid" (sales price: 38,500 euros) as a table centrepiece in 1760-62 on behalf of King Frederick II of Prussia. The provenance of two museum decorative bowls with so-called Imari decoration from around 1730 was also crucial. The museum porcelain was once in the famous collection of King Augustus the Strong and achieved record-breaking results of 31,000 and 27,500 euros respectively. Meissen chinoiserie porcelain is very popular among collectors, especially objects with Kakiemon and Hoeroldt decorations. Two museum-quality "Augustus Rex" vases with Hoeroldt chinoiserie and mythical creature decorations by Adam Friedrich von Löwenfinck from around 1730-1735 attracted exceptional attention with proceeds of 37,000 and 32,500 euros respectively, but a representative vase in Gu form with chinoiserie and Indian flower decoration from the last third of the 18th century also brought 62,000 euros. A Böttger porcelain table bell with Hoeroldt chinoiserie dates from the early days of the manufactory around 1720 (proceeds 30,000 euros).

But it is not only the early pieces from the Meissen factory that are popular among collectors; designs and designs from the 19th and 20th centuries have also changed hands at a higher price. These include the unique, monumental “The Golden Age of France” vase for Louis XV, based on a design by Johann Joachim Kaendler from 1741 and made in the second half of the 19th century (sales price: 100,000 euros). Two museum-quality Meissen vases with scenic staffage from works by Moritz von Schwind each achieved sales of 100,000 euros and are based on designs by the modeler Ernst August Leuteritz, whose inspiration also led to the first execution of the so-called Limoges painting from France in 1865 in Meissen and its presentation at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867. A collection of fine Meissen porcelain made using this special, high-quality technique achieved outstanding results totaling 361,000 euros. An impressive neo-rococo pendulum clock, modeled around 1900 based on a design by Paul Helmig, was sold for 50,000 euros.

Among the objects of modern Meissen porcelain art, the monumental, 620 cm wide wall design "Flower Impressions" by Heinz Werner (1928 - 2019) stood out. As a painter, graphic artist and porcelain artist, Werner was one of the most influential decorative designers of the Meissen manufactory in the second half of the 20th century. The unique piece, created together with his colleague Horst Bretschneider in 1994, almost tripled its estimated price and was purchased by a German hotelier for 35,000 euros.

Like the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, the Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin can look back on a history and tradition spanning over 250 years. Frederick II of Prussia founded the manufactory and not only gave it its name and his symbol, the royal sceptre, but was also his best customer. Frederick commissioned services and artistic table centrepieces for his palaces, and state gifts also frequently came from the manufactory. One example is a museum-quality royal "Weimar vase" modeled around 1785 with a portrait of Crown Princess Friederike Luise of Prussia as a gift to her from Frederick the Great (sold for 53,000 euros).

After Friedrich's death in 1786, Friedrich Wilhelm II took over the KPM Berlin and Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Johann Gottfried Schadow and Christian Daniel Rauch had a say in the design of the porcelain from then on. A three-part portrait vase ensemble modelled between 1823 and 1832 with scenes based on the poem "Lalla Rookh" by Thomas Moore dates from this era and was owned by Queen Elisabeth of Romania, née Princess of Wied, as the poet "Carmen Sylva" (sales price: 181,000 euros). The monumental vase, a unique piece painted with elaborate soldier scenes from the life of General Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Ludwig von Jagow and corresponding architectural motifs (sales price: 50,000 euros), was owned by the von Jagow family and was presented to the same General in 1836 as a gift for his 50th anniversary of service and at the same time as his departure from military service by King Friedrich Wilhelm III.

A high point in modern porcelain art in the 1920s was the cycle of a total of 16 large Art Deco sculptures with animal figures or mythical creatures created by Hugo Meisel and Arthur Storch in 1920/21 for the sculptural decoration of the "Porcelain Palace" in Leipzig and manufactured by the Oldest Volkstedt Porcelain Manufactory. This also included the museum counterpart "Hellhound" and "Buddhist Lion" by Storch, which was shown at the legendary German Trade Fair in Munich in 1922 and was part of the luxurious furnishings of the famous express steamer "Bremen" of the "Norddeutscher Lloyd" in 1928 and was sold for a total of 62,500 euros.

German porcelain manufacturers such as Meissen enjoyed great popularity at the leading European royal courts from an early stage due to their exquisite designs and masterly execution, and were therefore exported at high prices. Catherine the Great, among others, awarded a number of orders to the Meissen manufactory to represent the Russian Empire. In 1766, the British-Russian entrepreneur Francis Jacob Gardener founded the first private porcelain factory in Russia, the Gardner Manufactory, which employed several employees who had been trained in Meissen. In 1780-1790, an elaborate, magnificent late Baroque centerpiece was created there on behalf of the Russian tsarina (proceeds 56,000 euros), the overall concept of which goes back to Meissen designs.