Böttger porcelain, Meissen 1725 / No mark (as usual) / Gold bordures and Böttger lustre by George Funcke / Height: 10.8 cm / Length: 10.5 cm (without handle)
Provenance: Maurice de Rothschild, Edmond de Rothschild (Christie's 28.3.1977 no. 28) / The Robert Compton Jones Collection, London/Sidney
Painting
An exceptional Bourdalou with the finest chinoiserie painting by Höroldt himself.
The front of the Bourdalou features a highly unusual scene for Meissen: a joyful bathing scene in a reed-lined pond with two naked Chinese women in the water, while a couple watches from a small bathing hut on the shore to the left.
We found only one comparable scene: the naked Chinese women standing in the middle of the image in front of a large reed plant appear identically on a jug in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg (Liackhova 2007, No. 25, see image below). Interestingly, this jug comes directly from Höroldt’s close family circle. It is dedicated to his wife’s brother, “G(eorge) E(rnst) Keil 1726.”
In the Carabelli Collection (Pietsch No. 44), there is a saucer accompanying a cup, which also depicts a joyful bathing scene (see image below). Here, naked children are playfully sliding from an embankment into a pond. Ulrich Pietsch comments on it: “The lively, dynamic depiction is most likely attributable to Höroldt.” This assessment applies even more so to our Bourdalou. Pietsch dates the cup (also unmarked) to 1725, as we do with our Bourdalou.
The scene on the reverse of our Bourdalou also appears on a lemonade beaker from the collection of Franz and Margarethe Oppenheimer (Rijksmuseum Den Blaauwen No. 41 = Pietsch 1996 No. 140 = Sotheby’s New York 14.09.2021 No. 58), which Höroldt dedicated to his mother-in-law or sister-in-law of the same name — Beate Christina Keilen — on September 16, 1726 (see image below). Our scene, largely matching in depiction, is, however, larger, broader, and more fully developed in its narrative structure.
In the depiction on our Bourdalou — unlike on the beaker — the true meaning of the scene is revealed. It is the Chinese woman who admires the master and his work with glances and gestures, while he, with his brush and broad-brimmed hat, puts the finishing touches on his creation, clearly pleased with the result. She is absent in the Amsterdam piece. The questioning glance of the Chinese boy holding the canvas falls into emptiness there, unexplained. Our figures are larger, more finely rendered, and more three-dimensional. This is also true of the Chinese figure behind the master, who observes the scene rather than the painting, a detail less noticeable in Amsterdam.
We are thus dealing here with the extremely rare, if not unique, case of Höroldt decorating both sides of the Bourdalou with scenes that he found so compelling that he repeated them on two dedicated porcelain pieces. Given the even finer painting on our Bourdalou, we consider this piece, even without a dedication, to be Höroldt's own work. Moreover, our piece was painted in 1725, predating the dedication piece and possibly serving as its prototype.
The motif appears in the Schulz Codex three times: T 74 III 2, T 80 II 1, T 4 II 1.
Dating
The dating of early Chinoiserie Bourdalous in the literature varies between 1723 and 1735. From the weekly reports of the Meissen turners and formers (Boltz in Keramos 178/2002, pp. 48 ff.), we know that Meissen began production of "Nachttöpfe" — as they were then called — in 1723 using Böttger's lime porcelain, with production extending to 1725. There was no production in 1726, while production resumed in 1727 with the new feldspar porcelain. Our Bourdalou is made of Böttger’s lime porcelain, which can be identified by its translucency, so we date it to around 1725, including its painting shortly thereafter. This dating is supported by the fact that there are no gold elements within the cartouches, as Höroldt only mastered gold painting from 1726 onward, making him independent of Funcke and his Dresden workshop. Until then, all gold borders and gold ornamentation were exclusively Funcke’s work, while the cartouche painting without gold elements was solely by Höroldt and his workshop.
Ducret also dates the Munich Bourdalou in the Residenz to 1725, although without further reasoning, as does Ulrich Pietsch, who attributes the saucer in the Carabelli Collection, with a similarly painted early Chinoiserie bathing scene (see Pietsch, Cat. Slg. Carabelli, no. 44), to Höroldt and dates it similarly. According to Pietsch, the exceptionally lively and spirited bathing scene, unusual by Meissen standards, is most likely attributable to Höroldt.
Bourdalou
The "Bourdalou" is a type of chamber pot designed for ladies. It comes in two forms: an elongated oval and a nearly round-oval "pot de chambre." Starting around 1740, both types were referred to as "Bourdalous" (see Cat. Slg. Ludwig, no. 66; Ducret in KFS 26/1953, p. 15). The smaller versions could be carried by ladies to help them discreetly manage any potential inconveniences. Both styles are named after the French Jesuit priest, court preacher of Louis XIV, and professor of rhetoric, Louis Bourdalou (1632–1704). His captivating and lengthy sermons at the "Sun King's" court were highly popular. According to legend, the court ladies would reserve their seats in the church hours before his sermons; to avoid losing their place, they would discreetly make use of the Bourdalou (Schurr in Cat. Slg. Ludwig, no. 66).
About 20 years after the death of the famous priest, Meissen began producing this useful item, with the earliest examples also being the most magnificent. Finely painted Chinoiserie designs featuring imaginative scenes and humorous details adorned these luxurious pieces. Meissen succeeded in making Bourdalous indispensable items in courtly daily life, as evidenced by the weekly reports from the Meissen formers, published by Boltz (Keramos 178/2002, p. 68), which highlight the large scale of production between 1722 and 1728. The "elaborately finely enameled" versions fetched the extraordinary price of 45 thalers (Berling, p. 181, no. 123, according to the June 17, 1731, Taxa).
Comparable Pieces
Both types of Bourdalou (all apparently without swords mark) are rare; we could only find the following six comparable pieces of the nearly oval type:
