Very rare Meissen water jug with ‘beak’, painted with air rocks and two peony herbs in Kakiemon style

This type of jug goes back to a Japanese model of Augustus the Strong’s Collection (Weber II p. 198). Julia Weber (Fig. 34 p. 199) and Masako Shono (Fig. 88) show the Arita jug from the Hans Syz Collection, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York. The model was issued in Meissen in two variants: 1. with small beak as spout; 2. without a spout. The first (our) variant is extremely rare. Only two other versions are known to us:

1. Christie's Geneva 17.11.1978 No. 82 = Christie's Geneva 05.07.1979 No. 124 (noted by Boltz 1980 p. 69). This jug bears the palace mark "N-81-W". In the inventory of the Royal Collection of Augustus the Strong of 1770 under the following entry (Boltz 1996 p. 74 section d no. 81): "A detto (= jug with handles, with blue and red flowers), slightly pointed at the top, 6. inches high [= 14.1 cm] 4. inches in diam".
2. Gardiner Museum Toronto (Object No. G04.18.05) with lid in silver-gilt mounting with incised mark "//"= Sotheby's 18.10.1988 No. 379

As the thoroughly removed Meissen mark on the underside shows, our jug was part of the Hoym / Lemaire affair. This can indeed also be deduced of the manufactory’s records published by Claus Boltz (op. cit.):

• Johann Gregorius Höroldt, after the template of the original Japanese jug with palace mark "N-77 ", created the Meissen jugs on behalf of the Parisian merchant Rudolphe Lemaire. In the records of the "East Asian Original Models and working copies from Höroldt's workshop", the following entry is found under the heading "Old Indian Porcelain" (= porcelain from China and Japan): "1 Waßer Krug mit Deckel No. 77" (1 water jug with lid).
• The price list of the first contract with Lemaire of 30.03.1729 mentions the "large and small water jugs" at 2 Thlr. each.
• Finally, in April 1731 - after the affair had been exposed - "5 water jugs with lids" were confiscated in the house of Count Hoym (Boltz 1980 p. 45) and transferred to the Royal Collection.

Dating
Since our jug was part of the Hoym/ Lemaire affair, it can be dated accurately to 1730. The removed swords mark indicates that it was sold by Lemaire on the Parisian luxury goods market before Augustus the Strong learned about the merchant's machinations. The latter had copied East Asian porcelains in Meissen in collaboration with Count Hoym (behind the King's back) in order to sell them in Paris as "originals" at the highest prices - hence the removal of the swords mark intended to conceal the Saxon origin.