August Rex beaker vase with the "Vogelbaum" motif in "famille verte" style
Meissen 1738
Height: 24.4 cm; Ø 16.5 cm; marks: "AR" mark in underglaze blue, incised mark "X" (as on many Meissen beaker vases)
Provenance: Andreina Torré, Zürich (quoted after Weber II p. 257 foot note 2, introduction on the chapter of the "Vogelbaum" motif; Christie’s Genf 16.11.1992 no. 177; Sotheby’s 4.7.1972 no. 110)
Description
The Meissen Vogelbaum motif with one, two or three birds goes back to a Chinese model of the "famille verte". Julia Weber (vol. II p. 356) shows a corresponding, large Chinese bowl that Augustus the Strong had already acquired before 1725 (inv. no. PO 3039).
The Vogelbaum motif was extremely popular on tableware in Meissen (Weber vol. II p. 356 ff.), but it rarely appears on vases. The "AR" mark on our vase can be seen by Julia Weber as proof that the Vogelbaum motif was delivered to the king (op. cit.). August III obviously commissioned the vases from the manufactory in order to decorate the tower room in the sense of a magnificent porcelain cabinet. He wanted "the best products of the Meissen porcelain manufactory" to be displayed in the Tower Room (Weber p. 8 in the introduction to the Tower Room Book 2019). Our vase was one of these.
Among the few Meissen vases with Vogelbaum motifs that we have been able to find (6 pieces), only one is directly comparable: V&A Museum, London (Accession no. C.331-1928).
Literature
Weber, Julia: Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, Band I. München 2013
Weber, Julia: Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, Band II. München 2013
Picture-gallery
