Early Böttger Porcelain Lidded Box
Meissen, 1715–1720
With early decoration, likely by Sabina Auffenwerth, later married Hosennestel
Height: 10.5 cm (with lid) / Unmarked
Provenance: Sotheby’s, 16 June 1987, lot 95
The present lidded box represents an early model of a large sugar box (cf. Frankfurt Catalogue, no. 11), created between 1715 and 1720, most likely based on a design by Johann Jacob Irminger (cf. Rückert 1966, no. 30; Handt/Rakebrand, no. 8).
The decoration, previously attributed to Johann Georg Funcke or the Meissen manufactory itself, can now be confidently ascribed to the Augsburg workshop of Sabina Auffenwerth. Unlike the manufactory, Auffenwerth's atelier cultivated this graphic style from the outset.
Particularly typical for Augsburg is the so-called “arrowhead” motif with central dot, which appears prominently on both the body and the lid of the box. This motif also adorns the borders and cartouches of the famous “Hosennestel” services by Sabina Auffenwerth (née Hosennestel):
- the service introduced by Clarke in Keramos in 1973, and
- the travelling set from the Pauls-Eisenbeiss Collection (1972, p. 384), today in our possession (Langeloh 2019, no. 3).
Early Böttger porcelain boxes are exceedingly rare. We have been able to identify only three other examples with comparable decoration:
- Porzellansammlung, Dresden Zwinger (Inv. no. PE 935, Exhibition Cat. 2010, no. 34) = Handt/Rakebrand, pl. 8, Menzhausen (Handt), dated circa 1720 = Rückert, op. cit., model dated 1710–1720, decoration around 1720 = Lichthof Exhibition, Berlin 1904, no. 25
- Frankfurt Catalogue, no. 11, dated 1715–1720
- Dorotheum, Vienna, 13 October 2011, lot 1153