Passion for Porcelain

E D ITE D BY K A R I N E TS O U M I S & VA N ESSA S I G A LA S

9 783897 905849

Passion_Cover_END.indd 1

arnoldsche

ISBN 978-3-89790-584-9

A PA SS I O N F O R P O R C E L A I N

With contributions by Daniel Chen, Katharina Hantschmann, Peter Kaellgren, Sebastian Kuhn, Claudia Lehner-Jobst, Thomas Michie, Jeffrey Munger, Linda Roth, Rosalind Savill, Vanessa Sigalas, and Karine Tsoumis.

TS O U M I S / S I G A LA S

A Passion for Porcelain brings together papers delivered at an international symposium held in 2018 at the Gardiner Museum, Toronto (CA), in honour of Meredith Chilton, C.M., one of the foremost scholars and curators of eighteenth-century European porcelain. Authored by leading scholars in the field, the essays take us on a journey from Sèvres to Japan via Boston, where we encounter both revered artists and anonymous makers, together with passionate collectors past and present. The contributions also explore the medium of porcelain in the context of artistic rivalry and gift exchange, as an object of fashion and scientific curiosity and as a symbol of status and power. Together they reveal the versatility of the medium, changing perceptions and endless possibilities for porcelain scholarship.

A PA SS I O N FOR PORCELAIN Essays in Honour of Meredith Chilton

arnoldsche

10.02.20 14:52

PREFACE

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H

Sequoia Miller

p. 7

Japan

FOREWORD Meredith Chilton , C .M

MAP OF

p. 8

CELEBRATING MEREDITH CHILTON, C.M. K a r i n e Ts o u m i s a n d Va n e s s a S i g a l a s

CONTENTS

GIFTS WORTHY OF THE SHOGUN: Nabeshima Porcelain in the Macdonald Collection Daniel Chen

p. 188

p. 10

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS p. 19

London Chantilly Toronto

TR AV E LS AC ROSS TH E

Atlantic A FORMIDABLE ASSEMBLY: The Katz Collection of English Porcelain at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Thomas S . Michie

Boston

Rastatt

Dresden

Munich Sèvres

Vienna

Nabeshima

Covington

p. 154

A REFINED TASTE: Porcelain Collecting in English Canada Pet e r K a el l g re n

p. 170

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H

Germany & Austria TR AV E LS TH RO U G H

ALWAYS UP TO DATE: Porcelain at the Munich Court

France

Katharina Hantschmann

THE ELEPHANT IN THE BOUDOIR: Modelling Nature at Chantilly K a r i n e Ts o u m i s

p. 90

SÈVRES PORCELAIN ENHANCEMENTS: Two Plaques for an Almanac of 1756 Rosalind Savill

p. 108

HONOURING THE PAST: Sèvres and Bernard Palissy Jeffrey Munger

TAXILE DOAT (1851–1938): Artist and Alchemist Linda Roth

PRECIOUS BEGGARS: Ivory and Porcelain Sculpture at the Dresden Court Va n e s s a S i g a l a s

p. 138

p. 40

“PORCELAINE À LA MODE”: The Eighteenth-Century Collections of the Baden Princesses Sebastian Kuhn

p. 124

p. 22

p. 56

PUBLICATIONS

BY MEREDITH CHILTON p. 205

FLIGHTS OF IMAGINATION: Claudius Innocentius du Paquier and the Tastes of his Patrons Claudia Lehner-Jobst

CONTRIBUTOR BIOS p. 72

p. 207

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS p. 208

PREFACE

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H

Sequoia Miller

p. 7

Japan

FOREWORD Meredith Chilton , C .M

MAP OF

p. 8

CELEBRATING MEREDITH CHILTON, C.M. K a r i n e Ts o u m i s a n d Va n e s s a S i g a l a s

CONTENTS

GIFTS WORTHY OF THE SHOGUN: Nabeshima Porcelain in the Macdonald Collection Daniel Chen

p. 188

p. 10

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS p. 19

London Chantilly Toronto

TR AV E LS AC ROSS TH E

Atlantic A FORMIDABLE ASSEMBLY: The Katz Collection of English Porcelain at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Thomas S . Michie

Boston

Rastatt

Dresden

Munich Sèvres

Vienna

Nabeshima

Covington

p. 154

A REFINED TASTE: Porcelain Collecting in English Canada Pet e r K a el l g re n

p. 170

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H

Germany & Austria TR AV E LS TH RO U G H

ALWAYS UP TO DATE: Porcelain at the Munich Court

France

Katharina Hantschmann

THE ELEPHANT IN THE BOUDOIR: Modelling Nature at Chantilly K a r i n e Ts o u m i s

p. 90

SÈVRES PORCELAIN ENHANCEMENTS: Two Plaques for an Almanac of 1756 Rosalind Savill

p. 108

HONOURING THE PAST: Sèvres and Bernard Palissy Jeffrey Munger

TAXILE DOAT (1851–1938): Artist and Alchemist Linda Roth

PRECIOUS BEGGARS: Ivory and Porcelain Sculpture at the Dresden Court Va n e s s a S i g a l a s

p. 138

p. 40

“PORCELAINE À LA MODE”: The Eighteenth-Century Collections of the Baden Princesses Sebastian Kuhn

p. 124

p. 22

p. 56

PUBLICATIONS

BY MEREDITH CHILTON p. 205

FLIGHTS OF IMAGINATION: Claudius Innocentius du Paquier and the Tastes of his Patrons Claudia Lehner-Jobst

CONTRIBUTOR BIOS p. 72

p. 207

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS p. 208

[ 8 ]

[ 9 ]

FOREWORD For two magical days in September 2018, twelve international scholars were gathered together by Dr. Karine Tsoumis of the Gardiner Museum for a symposium: A Passion for Porcelain. Can you imagine such a day, when twelve of your good friends and deeply admired colleagues come together in your honour to talk on subjects of enormous personal interest?

Many speakers travelled great distances from Europe and the United States to make their presentations. Several, such as Dr. Peter Kaellgren, Jeffrey Munger, and Dame Rosalind Savill, I have known from the time I joined the Gardiner Museum in 1983. Others became treasured friends just a little later: Ivan Day, Dr. Katharina Hantschmann, Sebastian Kuhn, Dr. Claudia Lehner-Jobst, and Linda Roth. And a few I have worked with more recently but are no less dear: Daniel Chen, Thomas Michie, Dr. Vanessa Sigalas, and Dr. Karine Tsoumis.

Over the past thirty-five years, our work together and your friendships have enriched my life, I have learned immeasurably from each of you, and we have had a great deal of fun along the way.

Many people have contributed financially to the publication. Thank you—it could not have happened without you. We are especially fortunate to have received the support of our Lead Sponsors: Pierre Karch and Mariel O’Neill-Karch, Toronto, and B. Michael Andressen, Munich, who made a special gift in memory of Dr. Alfred Ziffer. Alfred passed away in 2017, and we greatly miss his presence.

This volume of essays is a remarkable collaboration and an immense honour. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Meredith Chilton, C.M. Curator Emerita, Gardiner Museum September 2019

This collection of essays records the breadth of knowledge in our field and the generosity of scholars who share special insights into a wide range of porcelain topics that are close to their hearts and intellects. My most sincere and profound thanks to each of you for the time you spent researching and working on your presentations and on this publication, but above all for the joys of our friendships and the camaraderie of working together.

Another great pleasure was seeing so many people dear to me in the symposium’s audience. It was a special moment when we congregated to celebrate and reminisce, and also to hear the latest research from a rare gathering of revered experts. What an amazing time we had! Sincere appreciation goes to the Gardiner Museum for hosting the event and to my Gardiner colleagues who made it all happen, including Dr. Sequoia Miller, the Gardiner’s chief curator, who wrote the preface to this publication. And a particular thank you to Isadore and Rosalie Sharp, who hosted an unforgettable dinner for the speakers during the symposium.

Most of all, my profound gratitude goes to Dr. Karine Tsoumis, my esteemed colleague at the Gardiner, who worked tirelessly to organize both the symposium and this publication of the same name. Imagine how it felt when she kept asking, “What would please you, Meredith?” Dr. Vanessa Sigalas joined her in editing the publication with precision and care. You have both done magnificent work.

Speakers and attendees at the symposium held in honour of Meredith Chilton, Gardiner Museum, September 21–22, 2018. From left to right: Daniel Chen, Vanessa Sigalas, Linda Roth, Thomas Michie, Sebastian Kuhn, Meredith Chilton, Jeffrey Munger, Karine Tsoumis, Dame Rosalind Savill, Ivan Day, Peter Kaellgren, Katharina Hantschmann, James Appleyard (Chair, Gardiner Museum Board), Claudia Lehner-Jobst, Sequoia Miller (chief curator, Gardiner Museum).

[ 8 ]

[ 9 ]

FOREWORD For two magical days in September 2018, twelve international scholars were gathered together by Dr. Karine Tsoumis of the Gardiner Museum for a symposium: A Passion for Porcelain. Can you imagine such a day, when twelve of your good friends and deeply admired colleagues come together in your honour to talk on subjects of enormous personal interest?

Many speakers travelled great distances from Europe and the United States to make their presentations. Several, such as Dr. Peter Kaellgren, Jeffrey Munger, and Dame Rosalind Savill, I have known from the time I joined the Gardiner Museum in 1983. Others became treasured friends just a little later: Ivan Day, Dr. Katharina Hantschmann, Sebastian Kuhn, Dr. Claudia Lehner-Jobst, and Linda Roth. And a few I have worked with more recently but are no less dear: Daniel Chen, Thomas Michie, Dr. Vanessa Sigalas, and Dr. Karine Tsoumis.

Over the past thirty-five years, our work together and your friendships have enriched my life, I have learned immeasurably from each of you, and we have had a great deal of fun along the way.

Many people have contributed financially to the publication. Thank you—it could not have happened without you. We are especially fortunate to have received the support of our Lead Sponsors: Pierre Karch and Mariel O’Neill-Karch, Toronto, and B. Michael Andressen, Munich, who made a special gift in memory of Dr. Alfred Ziffer. Alfred passed away in 2017, and we greatly miss his presence.

This volume of essays is a remarkable collaboration and an immense honour. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Meredith Chilton, C.M. Curator Emerita, Gardiner Museum September 2019

This collection of essays records the breadth of knowledge in our field and the generosity of scholars who share special insights into a wide range of porcelain topics that are close to their hearts and intellects. My most sincere and profound thanks to each of you for the time you spent researching and working on your presentations and on this publication, but above all for the joys of our friendships and the camaraderie of working together.

Another great pleasure was seeing so many people dear to me in the symposium’s audience. It was a special moment when we congregated to celebrate and reminisce, and also to hear the latest research from a rare gathering of revered experts. What an amazing time we had! Sincere appreciation goes to the Gardiner Museum for hosting the event and to my Gardiner colleagues who made it all happen, including Dr. Sequoia Miller, the Gardiner’s chief curator, who wrote the preface to this publication. And a particular thank you to Isadore and Rosalie Sharp, who hosted an unforgettable dinner for the speakers during the symposium.

Most of all, my profound gratitude goes to Dr. Karine Tsoumis, my esteemed colleague at the Gardiner, who worked tirelessly to organize both the symposium and this publication of the same name. Imagine how it felt when she kept asking, “What would please you, Meredith?” Dr. Vanessa Sigalas joined her in editing the publication with precision and care. You have both done magnificent work.

Speakers and attendees at the symposium held in honour of Meredith Chilton, Gardiner Museum, September 21–22, 2018. From left to right: Daniel Chen, Vanessa Sigalas, Linda Roth, Thomas Michie, Sebastian Kuhn, Meredith Chilton, Jeffrey Munger, Karine Tsoumis, Dame Rosalind Savill, Ivan Day, Peter Kaellgren, Katharina Hantschmann, James Appleyard (Chair, Gardiner Museum Board), Claudia Lehner-Jobst, Sequoia Miller (chief curator, Gardiner Museum).

C E LE B R ATI N G M E R E D ITH C H I LTO N

CELEBRATING MEREDITH CHILTON, C.M. K a r i n e Ts o u m i s a n d Va n e s s a S i g a l a s

“The blurring of illusion and reality, artifice and nature, and theatrical roles and real life was a beloved theme of courtly entertainment in the eighteenth century.”1 Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, 2001

I

fig. 1

n this passage from Harlequin Unmasked, Meredith Chilton captures some of the profound contrasts underlying Enlightenment culture, a subject that has captivated her throughout her career. It is no surprise that she calls this period “her second home.” One can indeed imagine her wandering through an eighteenth-century court masquerade dressed as a character from the commedia dell’arte (maybe Harlequin?) or perhaps wearing an elegant robe à la française with an impressive coiffure containing a ship or even a whole tea service. She would indulge the numerous culinary delights, enjoy the various theatrical performances, engage in witty conversations, and most certainly peek behind secret doors. Meredith’s passion for the eighteenth century is tangible. Yet as a scholar and curator, she has achieved what very few have: to bring the period to life for the enjoyment of others and, in turn, cultivate their own passion and curiosity.

1 Harlequin and Columbine, Germany, Meissen, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler, 1743, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, mark: model number “404.”

H. 16 cm, W. 17.2 cm. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner.

FOLLOWING PAGE:

2 Moon flask vase, England, Minton, designed by Christopher Dresser, 1860s, bone china with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 26.5 cm, W. 21 cm, D. 10.6 cm. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Gift of N. Robert Cumming.

[ 11 ]

C E LE B R ATI N G M E R E D ITH C H I LTO N

CELEBRATING MEREDITH CHILTON, C.M. K a r i n e Ts o u m i s a n d Va n e s s a S i g a l a s

“The blurring of illusion and reality, artifice and nature, and theatrical roles and real life was a beloved theme of courtly entertainment in the eighteenth century.”1 Meredith Chilton, Harlequin Unmasked, 2001

I

fig. 1

n this passage from Harlequin Unmasked, Meredith Chilton captures some of the profound contrasts underlying Enlightenment culture, a subject that has captivated her throughout her career. It is no surprise that she calls this period “her second home.” One can indeed imagine her wandering through an eighteenth-century court masquerade dressed as a character from the commedia dell’arte (maybe Harlequin?) or perhaps wearing an elegant robe à la française with an impressive coiffure containing a ship or even a whole tea service. She would indulge the numerous culinary delights, enjoy the various theatrical performances, engage in witty conversations, and most certainly peek behind secret doors. Meredith’s passion for the eighteenth century is tangible. Yet as a scholar and curator, she has achieved what very few have: to bring the period to life for the enjoyment of others and, in turn, cultivate their own passion and curiosity.

1 Harlequin and Columbine, Germany, Meissen, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler, 1743, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, mark: model number “404.”

H. 16 cm, W. 17.2 cm. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner.

FOLLOWING PAGE:

2 Moon flask vase, England, Minton, designed by Christopher Dresser, 1860s, bone china with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 26.5 cm, W. 21 cm, D. 10.6 cm. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Gift of N. Robert Cumming.

[ 11 ]

[ 16 ]

C E LE B R ATI N G M E R E D ITH C H I LTO N

fig. 7 fig. 1

fig. 4

and meaning in a social context, making anything from figures, perfume bottles, and incense burners to tea and coffee services come to life through masterful storytelling. Harlequin Unmasked: The Commedia dell’Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, published in 2001 to coincide with a major exhibition at the Gardiner, is widely recognised as her ceramic masterpiece. Awarded three international awards for outstanding research in theatre history, this book is probably in almost every ceramics scholar’s library, and for those who work on porcelain figures of any kind, certainly full of post-it notes and annotations. In her introduction, Meredith claims that she “wanted to ask basic but different questions.”2 Not only did she find a different approach to porcelain sculpture when bringing them in close relation to theatre and costume history but she also set a precedent with the scientific analysis of glazes performed on the Meissen commedia figures in the Gardiner collection, a topic that is nowadays more relevant than ever. Now, two decades after Harlequin Unmasked, she has returned to porcelain sculpture in a forthcoming catalogue of the Alan Shimmerman collection of eighteenth-century Meissen figures developed in collaboration with Vanessa Sigalas.

Meredith left the Gardiner in 2004 to pursue her next big endeavour, which brought her back to Vienna, a porcelain mecca that had always fascinated her. A true labour of love, Fired

by Passion: Vienna Baroque Porcelain of Claudius Innocentius du Paquier (2009) encompassed five years of research, organisation, and coordination. The three-volume opus magnum that she, as the contributing editor-in-chief, organised together with Claudia Lehner-Jobst in collaboration with twelve other scholars has become a standard reference work on Du Paquier porcelain. An exhibition presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, co-curated with Jeffrey Munger, celebrated the English edition of the publication; she describes seeing the exhibition banner outside The Met as “perhaps my proudest moment.”3 Meredith returned to the Gardiner in January 2015 for a second tenure as chief curator.

One of her major tasks consisted in the reinstallation of the European porcelain galleries, unveiled to great acclaim at the end of that year. After three years of dynamic leadership, she officially retired from the Gardiner in December 2017. To mark this moment, she generously donated a Chantilly porcelain elephant from her personal collection (see front and back cover, pp. 91 and 103). This unique object had a real presence in her life and an important place in her heart, being a gift from the daughters of the late porcelain scholar Clare Le Corbeiller (1931–2003).

It is in memory of Clare, her close friend and mentor, that she donated this treasure, so “he can be enjoyed by all who visit the museum and beloved by future generations of curators.”4 Her association with the Museum continued as Curator Emerita, as she most notably curated the landmark exhibition Savour: Food Culture in the Age of Enlightenment, which

7 Perfume burner, France, Chantilly, ca. 1740–45, soft-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, gilt-bronze mounts, H. 22.9 cm, W. 20.4 cm. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner.

[ 16 ]

C E LE B R ATI N G M E R E D ITH C H I LTO N

fig. 7 fig. 1

fig. 4

and meaning in a social context, making anything from figures, perfume bottles, and incense burners to tea and coffee services come to life through masterful storytelling. Harlequin Unmasked: The Commedia dell’Arte and Porcelain Sculpture, published in 2001 to coincide with a major exhibition at the Gardiner, is widely recognised as her ceramic masterpiece. Awarded three international awards for outstanding research in theatre history, this book is probably in almost every ceramics scholar’s library, and for those who work on porcelain figures of any kind, certainly full of post-it notes and annotations. In her introduction, Meredith claims that she “wanted to ask basic but different questions.”2 Not only did she find a different approach to porcelain sculpture when bringing them in close relation to theatre and costume history but she also set a precedent with the scientific analysis of glazes performed on the Meissen commedia figures in the Gardiner collection, a topic that is nowadays more relevant than ever. Now, two decades after Harlequin Unmasked, she has returned to porcelain sculpture in a forthcoming catalogue of the Alan Shimmerman collection of eighteenth-century Meissen figures developed in collaboration with Vanessa Sigalas.

Meredith left the Gardiner in 2004 to pursue her next big endeavour, which brought her back to Vienna, a porcelain mecca that had always fascinated her. A true labour of love, Fired

by Passion: Vienna Baroque Porcelain of Claudius Innocentius du Paquier (2009) encompassed five years of research, organisation, and coordination. The three-volume opus magnum that she, as the contributing editor-in-chief, organised together with Claudia Lehner-Jobst in collaboration with twelve other scholars has become a standard reference work on Du Paquier porcelain. An exhibition presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, co-curated with Jeffrey Munger, celebrated the English edition of the publication; she describes seeing the exhibition banner outside The Met as “perhaps my proudest moment.”3 Meredith returned to the Gardiner in January 2015 for a second tenure as chief curator.

One of her major tasks consisted in the reinstallation of the European porcelain galleries, unveiled to great acclaim at the end of that year. After three years of dynamic leadership, she officially retired from the Gardiner in December 2017. To mark this moment, she generously donated a Chantilly porcelain elephant from her personal collection (see front and back cover, pp. 91 and 103). This unique object had a real presence in her life and an important place in her heart, being a gift from the daughters of the late porcelain scholar Clare Le Corbeiller (1931–2003).

It is in memory of Clare, her close friend and mentor, that she donated this treasure, so “he can be enjoyed by all who visit the museum and beloved by future generations of curators.”4 Her association with the Museum continued as Curator Emerita, as she most notably curated the landmark exhibition Savour: Food Culture in the Age of Enlightenment, which

7 Perfume burner, France, Chantilly, ca. 1740–45, soft-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, gilt-bronze mounts, H. 22.9 cm, W. 20.4 cm. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner.

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H

Germany & Austria

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H

Germany & Austria

[ 32 ]

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H G E R M A N Y & AU STR I A

A LWAYS U P TO DATE

porcelain were dispatched to Munich as a gift from the Saxon elector.16 This clearly aroused the young Bavarian elector’s wish for porcelain to be made in his own sovereign land, and in 1747 he established a manufactory at the castle of Neudeck in the Munich suburb of Au. In spite of his family connections, he was unable to acquire from Meissen the technical knowledge of porcelain manufacture, which was still a closely guarded secret. Consequently, he sought to make up for this by bringing three porcelain workers from Vienna, who were given fixed employment in November 1747. Yet their efforts were unsuccessful, as the kiln master Johann Lippisch lost his life in an accident after only two weeks there. Although the repairer Johann Theophil Schreiber was paid until summer 1749 and the painter Jakob Helkis until June 1750, we hitherto have no knowledge of what they achieved in this period. However, forty-five terracotta figures representing a parforce hunt belonging to historical Wittelsbach holdings are preserved at the Bavarian National Museum. These include a stag, twenty-five hounds, twenty horses with their riders, and a carriage with two ladies.17 The figures in fired clay decorated with oil paint were shaped with the help of moulds over internal wire structures affixed to rectangular plinths.

Although it was thought that these terracotta figures served as models for very similar equestrian figures created at the Vienna porcelain manufactory around 1745,18 the opposite must be the case, as the clothing in the Munich figures is a little more modern, the hats lower, and the jacket tails somewhat shorter. They were probably made by one of the Vienna workers who were in Munich from 1747 but failed in their bid to manufacture porcelain there. These workers probably brought examples of Vienna porcelain to serve as models. The hunt made in terracotta was certainly used as table decoration for the dessert course at hunt dinners held at Wittelsbach country houses. It is an early example of a durable material being used to make a more permanent substitute for the ephemeral sets of table decoration in perishable sugar paste, giving an idea of how refined the cold painting on sugar sculptures would have looked.

10 Dessert centerpiece in the form of a Baroque pleasure garden, Germany, Neudeck, 1754/55, models by Joseph Ponhauser and Franz Anton Bustelli, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 15.3–18.8 cm (figures).

Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum.

FOLLOWING PAGE:

11 Four putti from the dessert centerpiece with “Ovidian gods,” Germany, Neudeck/ Nymphenburg, 1755/65, models by Franz Anton Bustelli, 1755/57, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 9.7–10.5 cm (figures). Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Gift of B. Michael Andressen in memory and from the collection of Dr. Alfred Ziffer.

[ 33 ]

fig. 9

Just a short time later, porcelain table centerpieces eagerly imitating the latest developments at Meissen were being made at Neudeck.19 Porcelain production had finally started at Neudeck in 1754—that is to say, seven years after the manufactory’s foundation—with the critical knowhow being provided by the Vienna arcanist Joseph Jakob Ringler (1730–1804), who was active there from September 1753 to January 1757; both before and after this period, he was also responsible for getting other south German porcelain manufactories up and running.20 The first large table centerpiece in Neudeck porcelain was made for the wedding of the Bavarian princess Maria Anna Josepha to Margrave Ludwig Georg of Baden in July 1755.21 It is a miniature representation of a Baroque garden in which ladies and gentlemen are seen strolling between beds of box hedging and tall, pyramid-shaped trees. The subject may possibly have been an idea provided by the young Bavarian electress, who as a child in Saxony had witnessed the use of similar table decorations in sugar paste. At her father’s birthday celebrations in 1737, a centerpiece created by the court confectioner had represented “an agreeable pleasance, around 7 ells long, well laid-down and surrounded with hedges.”22 While the stiff, elongated ladies and gentlemen standing on patches of lawn in the Neudeck pleasure garden were the creations of the modeller Joseph Ponhauser from Vienna, the graciously moving figures on thin white plinths

fig. 10

[ 32 ]

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H G E R M A N Y & AU STR I A

A LWAYS U P TO DATE

porcelain were dispatched to Munich as a gift from the Saxon elector.16 This clearly aroused the young Bavarian elector’s wish for porcelain to be made in his own sovereign land, and in 1747 he established a manufactory at the castle of Neudeck in the Munich suburb of Au. In spite of his family connections, he was unable to acquire from Meissen the technical knowledge of porcelain manufacture, which was still a closely guarded secret. Consequently, he sought to make up for this by bringing three porcelain workers from Vienna, who were given fixed employment in November 1747. Yet their efforts were unsuccessful, as the kiln master Johann Lippisch lost his life in an accident after only two weeks there. Although the repairer Johann Theophil Schreiber was paid until summer 1749 and the painter Jakob Helkis until June 1750, we hitherto have no knowledge of what they achieved in this period. However, forty-five terracotta figures representing a parforce hunt belonging to historical Wittelsbach holdings are preserved at the Bavarian National Museum. These include a stag, twenty-five hounds, twenty horses with their riders, and a carriage with two ladies.17 The figures in fired clay decorated with oil paint were shaped with the help of moulds over internal wire structures affixed to rectangular plinths.

Although it was thought that these terracotta figures served as models for very similar equestrian figures created at the Vienna porcelain manufactory around 1745,18 the opposite must be the case, as the clothing in the Munich figures is a little more modern, the hats lower, and the jacket tails somewhat shorter. They were probably made by one of the Vienna workers who were in Munich from 1747 but failed in their bid to manufacture porcelain there. These workers probably brought examples of Vienna porcelain to serve as models. The hunt made in terracotta was certainly used as table decoration for the dessert course at hunt dinners held at Wittelsbach country houses. It is an early example of a durable material being used to make a more permanent substitute for the ephemeral sets of table decoration in perishable sugar paste, giving an idea of how refined the cold painting on sugar sculptures would have looked.

10 Dessert centerpiece in the form of a Baroque pleasure garden, Germany, Neudeck, 1754/55, models by Joseph Ponhauser and Franz Anton Bustelli, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 15.3–18.8 cm (figures).

Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum.

FOLLOWING PAGE:

11 Four putti from the dessert centerpiece with “Ovidian gods,” Germany, Neudeck/ Nymphenburg, 1755/65, models by Franz Anton Bustelli, 1755/57, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 9.7–10.5 cm (figures). Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Gift of B. Michael Andressen in memory and from the collection of Dr. Alfred Ziffer.

[ 33 ]

fig. 9

Just a short time later, porcelain table centerpieces eagerly imitating the latest developments at Meissen were being made at Neudeck.19 Porcelain production had finally started at Neudeck in 1754—that is to say, seven years after the manufactory’s foundation—with the critical knowhow being provided by the Vienna arcanist Joseph Jakob Ringler (1730–1804), who was active there from September 1753 to January 1757; both before and after this period, he was also responsible for getting other south German porcelain manufactories up and running.20 The first large table centerpiece in Neudeck porcelain was made for the wedding of the Bavarian princess Maria Anna Josepha to Margrave Ludwig Georg of Baden in July 1755.21 It is a miniature representation of a Baroque garden in which ladies and gentlemen are seen strolling between beds of box hedging and tall, pyramid-shaped trees. The subject may possibly have been an idea provided by the young Bavarian electress, who as a child in Saxony had witnessed the use of similar table decorations in sugar paste. At her father’s birthday celebrations in 1737, a centerpiece created by the court confectioner had represented “an agreeable pleasance, around 7 ells long, well laid-down and surrounded with hedges.”22 While the stiff, elongated ladies and gentlemen standing on patches of lawn in the Neudeck pleasure garden were the creations of the modeller Joseph Ponhauser from Vienna, the graciously moving figures on thin white plinths

fig. 10

P R EC I O U S B EGG A RS

[ 51 ]

century elite found it appealing to dress up as members of the lower classes. Their disguises were not meant to reflect or pay homage to the real lives of these hard-working people. Taking on these personas was more about idealizing the craft or profession itself. The porcelain figures of Kaendler could have served as gifts or souvenirs, which were offered during the festivities.36 In many cases, prints were the source of inspiration for the various professions.37 Kaendler, however, was also able to draw on a broad range of thematically similar ivory sculptures, which were in the treasury of Augustus the Strong but also in the possession of Count Heinrich von Brühl. The small potter from the Brühl collection could have been the inspiration for Kaendler’s porcelain version. Kaendler may have seen the figure in Brühl’s Natural History Cabinet, which was in the foyer of his theatre.38 As an art collector, Brühl was almost equal to Augustus the Strong and very passionate about ivory and porcelain.39 Brühl was head of the Meissen manufactory from 1733 and ordered large quantities of porcelain.

Kaendler was a protégé of Brühl, as was his predecessor Lücke.40 Brühl’s patronage of an ivory carver and a porcelain artist at the same time underscores his diverse interests in art.

It also shows that, from a collector’s point of view, both art forms were accorded a similarly high status. Stylistic and thematic similarities were probably not coincidental but deliberately chosen by artists and desired by clients.

As we have seen with the potter, the numerous artisans, street traders, beggars, and peasants that Kaendler created during his career often reveal interesting parallels to the ivory statuettes of the Green Vault or the Brühl collection, which overlap thematically. This does not imply that Kaendler went to sit in front of these figures and sketched them to turn them one by one into porcelain. Some motifs, movements, or attributes seem to be direct quotes, while others only reflect a general, thematic resemblance. Dancing, for example, is strongly represented in both materials. Figures of all social classes were represented in motion, joyfully twirling in cabinets and on tables.

9 Dancing peasants, Germany, Meissen, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler, ca. 1740–44, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 16.8 cm (right), 17 cm (left). Collection of Alan Shimmerman.

10 Dancing peasants, probably Dresden, ca. 1710, ivory, wooden pedestals, H. 10.4 cm (both) incl. pedestals. Green Vault, Dresden State Art Collections.

11 Two beggar musicians, Germany, Meissen, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler, ca. 1736 (female), ca. 1736/40–44 (male), hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels, H. 11.1 cm (female), 13.7 cm (male). Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT.

figs. 7/8

figs. 9/10

Like his artisans, many of Kaendler’s dancers, who purportedly belonged to the lower classes of society, were actually members of the aristocracy in disguise, as their elegant clothing shows. Yet, the traditional notion that all of Kaendler’s figural creations are idealized people and generally represent masquerading courtiers is more nuanced.41 There was a clear hierarchy in eighteenth-century depictions of the “lower classes,” which should be taken into account. At the top were shepherds, who were believed to have noble emotions and grace and were therefore a preferred subject of courtly masquerades.42 Although associated with nature and idyllic country life, peasants were, at the same time, assigned more negative characteristics, such as foolishness and gluttony.43 It is therefore not without reason that Kaendler’s dancing peasant holding the large mug is often derogatorily referred to as “Drunken Peasant.” Yet, the theme of the peasant dance generally refers to an idealized country life, seen for example in Count von Brühl’s Meissen Dutch Village, an ensemble consisting of porcelain farmhouses, a stable, a barn, a church, a tavern, etc., as well as various staffage figures and animals, which decorated the count’s dessert table in 1743.45 44

fig. 9

P R EC I O U S B EGG A RS

[ 51 ]

century elite found it appealing to dress up as members of the lower classes. Their disguises were not meant to reflect or pay homage to the real lives of these hard-working people. Taking on these personas was more about idealizing the craft or profession itself. The porcelain figures of Kaendler could have served as gifts or souvenirs, which were offered during the festivities.36 In many cases, prints were the source of inspiration for the various professions.37 Kaendler, however, was also able to draw on a broad range of thematically similar ivory sculptures, which were in the treasury of Augustus the Strong but also in the possession of Count Heinrich von Brühl. The small potter from the Brühl collection could have been the inspiration for Kaendler’s porcelain version. Kaendler may have seen the figure in Brühl’s Natural History Cabinet, which was in the foyer of his theatre.38 As an art collector, Brühl was almost equal to Augustus the Strong and very passionate about ivory and porcelain.39 Brühl was head of the Meissen manufactory from 1733 and ordered large quantities of porcelain.

Kaendler was a protégé of Brühl, as was his predecessor Lücke.40 Brühl’s patronage of an ivory carver and a porcelain artist at the same time underscores his diverse interests in art.

It also shows that, from a collector’s point of view, both art forms were accorded a similarly high status. Stylistic and thematic similarities were probably not coincidental but deliberately chosen by artists and desired by clients.

As we have seen with the potter, the numerous artisans, street traders, beggars, and peasants that Kaendler created during his career often reveal interesting parallels to the ivory statuettes of the Green Vault or the Brühl collection, which overlap thematically. This does not imply that Kaendler went to sit in front of these figures and sketched them to turn them one by one into porcelain. Some motifs, movements, or attributes seem to be direct quotes, while others only reflect a general, thematic resemblance. Dancing, for example, is strongly represented in both materials. Figures of all social classes were represented in motion, joyfully twirling in cabinets and on tables.

9 Dancing peasants, Germany, Meissen, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler, ca. 1740–44, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 16.8 cm (right), 17 cm (left). Collection of Alan Shimmerman.

10 Dancing peasants, probably Dresden, ca. 1710, ivory, wooden pedestals, H. 10.4 cm (both) incl. pedestals. Green Vault, Dresden State Art Collections.

11 Two beggar musicians, Germany, Meissen, modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler, ca. 1736 (female), ca. 1736/40–44 (male), hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels, H. 11.1 cm (female), 13.7 cm (male). Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT.

figs. 7/8

figs. 9/10

Like his artisans, many of Kaendler’s dancers, who purportedly belonged to the lower classes of society, were actually members of the aristocracy in disguise, as their elegant clothing shows. Yet, the traditional notion that all of Kaendler’s figural creations are idealized people and generally represent masquerading courtiers is more nuanced.41 There was a clear hierarchy in eighteenth-century depictions of the “lower classes,” which should be taken into account. At the top were shepherds, who were believed to have noble emotions and grace and were therefore a preferred subject of courtly masquerades.42 Although associated with nature and idyllic country life, peasants were, at the same time, assigned more negative characteristics, such as foolishness and gluttony.43 It is therefore not without reason that Kaendler’s dancing peasant holding the large mug is often derogatorily referred to as “Drunken Peasant.” Yet, the theme of the peasant dance generally refers to an idealized country life, seen for example in Count von Brühl’s Meissen Dutch Village, an ensemble consisting of porcelain farmhouses, a stable, a barn, a church, a tavern, etc., as well as various staffage figures and animals, which decorated the count’s dessert table in 1743.45 44

fig. 9

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[ 61 ]

the Monatszimmer (rooms of the months), the first six of which contained— according to the 1733 inventory6— a mixture of Asian and European stoneware and porcelain, small figures and tea wares on wooden consoles above the chimneys. The “January Room,” for example, contained “over the chimney, 1 flower wreath, 2 large figures and 8 small figures, 1 tea set, 6 teabowls and saucers, 2 chocolate bowls with handles and saucers, 7 small bowls with covers, everything of majolica.” The inventories do sometimes distinguish between “fine porcelain” and “majolica”; the latter probably refers to red stoneware, Chinese, Dutch, Meissen, or even Mexican pottery, and possibly a mixture. The inventory doesn’t refer to any ceramics displayed on furniture, though such displays, if at all, were more likely to be temporary.

It is likely that Sibylla Augusta’s collection included approximately 1,500 pieces of porcelain and 700 examples of stoneware and faience; the bulk of this was Chinese export porcelain of the Transitional (ca. 1627–1662) and Kangxi (1662–1722) periods, though some date from the end of the Ming dynasty in the early seventeenth century.7 It is impossible to know how much early Meissen stoneware and porcelain Sibylla Augusta owned,8 though the quantity of Meissen stoneware suggests that she was among the Meissen manufactory’s earliest customers.9 Given her friendship with Augustus the Strong and their shared passion for porcelain, it is also possible that she received gifts of Meissen stoneware or porcelain.10 In 1728, Sibylla Augusta ordered Meissen porcelain, including—among others—six chocolate beakers decorated with “Japanese figures” in gilt cartouches.11 This fashion for chinoiserie, and its association with “Oriental” luxury and opulence, found expression in the decoration of Schloss Favorite and the porcelain Sibylla Augusta acquired for it. Her collection was firmly rooted in the Baroque tradition of display and representation, so that even a “pleasure palace” such as Favorite was a visible and public—or semi-public—expression of the rank and selfimage of the princely house. To this end, Sibylla Augusta specified that her collections be kept together after her death for the benefit of her successors.12

fig. 4

Magdalena Wilhelmine von Baden-Durlach The neighbouring Protestant branch of the ruling family of Baden had its seat in Durlach, and later Karlsruhe, where in 1715 construction began on an imposing new residence. The Margravine Magdalena Wilhelmina von Baden-Durlach, née Princess of Württemberg, also owned a significant collection of Asian and European porcelain, some of which she had inherited from her mother and from an unmarried aunt of her husband.13 She remained in the old palace of Karlsburg, when in 1718 her husband moved to the new residence in Karlsruhe. As early as 1717, she installed an art and porcelain cabinet next to her bedroom

4 Grünes Zimmer (Green Room), apartment of the Hereditary Prince, Schloss Favorite, Rastatt.

fig. 5

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[ 61 ]

the Monatszimmer (rooms of the months), the first six of which contained— according to the 1733 inventory6— a mixture of Asian and European stoneware and porcelain, small figures and tea wares on wooden consoles above the chimneys. The “January Room,” for example, contained “over the chimney, 1 flower wreath, 2 large figures and 8 small figures, 1 tea set, 6 teabowls and saucers, 2 chocolate bowls with handles and saucers, 7 small bowls with covers, everything of majolica.” The inventories do sometimes distinguish between “fine porcelain” and “majolica”; the latter probably refers to red stoneware, Chinese, Dutch, Meissen, or even Mexican pottery, and possibly a mixture. The inventory doesn’t refer to any ceramics displayed on furniture, though such displays, if at all, were more likely to be temporary.

It is likely that Sibylla Augusta’s collection included approximately 1,500 pieces of porcelain and 700 examples of stoneware and faience; the bulk of this was Chinese export porcelain of the Transitional (ca. 1627–1662) and Kangxi (1662–1722) periods, though some date from the end of the Ming dynasty in the early seventeenth century.7 It is impossible to know how much early Meissen stoneware and porcelain Sibylla Augusta owned,8 though the quantity of Meissen stoneware suggests that she was among the Meissen manufactory’s earliest customers.9 Given her friendship with Augustus the Strong and their shared passion for porcelain, it is also possible that she received gifts of Meissen stoneware or porcelain.10 In 1728, Sibylla Augusta ordered Meissen porcelain, including—among others—six chocolate beakers decorated with “Japanese figures” in gilt cartouches.11 This fashion for chinoiserie, and its association with “Oriental” luxury and opulence, found expression in the decoration of Schloss Favorite and the porcelain Sibylla Augusta acquired for it. Her collection was firmly rooted in the Baroque tradition of display and representation, so that even a “pleasure palace” such as Favorite was a visible and public—or semi-public—expression of the rank and selfimage of the princely house. To this end, Sibylla Augusta specified that her collections be kept together after her death for the benefit of her successors.12

fig. 4

Magdalena Wilhelmine von Baden-Durlach The neighbouring Protestant branch of the ruling family of Baden had its seat in Durlach, and later Karlsruhe, where in 1715 construction began on an imposing new residence. The Margravine Magdalena Wilhelmina von Baden-Durlach, née Princess of Württemberg, also owned a significant collection of Asian and European porcelain, some of which she had inherited from her mother and from an unmarried aunt of her husband.13 She remained in the old palace of Karlsburg, when in 1718 her husband moved to the new residence in Karlsruhe. As early as 1717, she installed an art and porcelain cabinet next to her bedroom

4 Grünes Zimmer (Green Room), apartment of the Hereditary Prince, Schloss Favorite, Rastatt.

fig. 5

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TR AV E LS TH RO U G H G E R M A N Y & AU STR I A

Indianische Blumen.34 The lambrequins on the sides of the clock case are decorated with figural chinoiseries, the pilasters on either side of the angels with Indianische Blumen, and the medallions on the sides of the cover with branch-and-bird motifs. According to a description dating from 1784, there were many bracket clocks at Schloss Esterháza, including a number with porcelain cases, as in the prince’s bedchamber. The noble privilege of being able to measure time here affords a little control over the fugacity of human existence; the ambivalence of this—situated as it is between Heaven and Earth—is the foundation of Baroque art. It was meant to offer a taste of the life to come, where “eternity and beauty embrace.”35

Painterly Refinement

fig. 9

fig. 10

The years between 1735 and 1744, just before the Du Paquier manufactory with its debts and glories was entrusted to the care of Maria Theresa, constitute the heyday of porcelain painting.

The décors were now principally oriented around European themes. Two covered écuelles and stands decorated en suite with exceptionally fine miniature landscapes showing huntsmen and game—the decoration being attributable to the court painter Christian Frey (active 1729–1751) — make up another artistically original item that well reflects the lifestyle of the nobility. This precious pair was discovered by the gallery Röbbig in Munich and is now privately owned.

A stand with the same decoration is documented as having been in the former Tillmann Collection; at the Gardiner Museum, a further stand is preserved showing a huntsman and game featured in a landscape with rock formations, within which a skilfully executed lion’s head can also be gradually discerned (see detail on p. 204).36 A particularly striking feature of Frey’s painting is its warm, sensitive colouration. The airy foliage of his trees and his rendering of depth and distance in hilly landscapes show his virtuosic mastery of the stipple technique of miniature painting. Working in a manner that has much in common with early eighteenth-century Austrian landscape painting, Frey was outstandingly successful in evoking its idealized atmosphere on porcelain.37 The rich gilding of the rims, handles, and cover finials—which surprisingly enough, given the overall purely European theme, are chinoiserie figures—performs the role that might otherwise be allotted to gilded bronze mounts, suggesting that the pieces were destined for a recipient of elevated rank and status. The elaborate form of the Baroque grotesque handles is also found on other important objects from the Du Paquier manufactory, such as two tureens signed by Jacobus Helchis (dates unknown), which were likewise conceived as highly artistic display pieces.38 Christian Frey was in imperial service as a hofbefreiter Maler. Therefore, in return for being permanently available and ready to fulfil imperial commissions, such as important diplomatic gifts at reasonable rates, he enjoyed a court dispensation from the obligations of guild membership, taxes, and tolls. The fact that Christian Frey of Augsburg enjoyed this status makes him a unique figure amongst the porcelain painters of his time. However, with the exception of the record of his marriage on June 17, 1724, in Vienna and further entries in church registers up to 1751, we know almost nothing about his life.39

9 Pair of écuelles and stands, Austria, Du Paquier, decoration attributed to Christian Frey, 1735–40, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 15 cm, W. 22 cm (écuelles), Diam. 26.5 cm (stands).

Private collection.

10 Plate with stag hunt, Austria, Du Paquier, decorated by Christian Frey, ca. 1735–41, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 4 cm, W. 26 cm. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner.

[ 84 ]

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H G E R M A N Y & AU STR I A

Indianische Blumen.34 The lambrequins on the sides of the clock case are decorated with figural chinoiseries, the pilasters on either side of the angels with Indianische Blumen, and the medallions on the sides of the cover with branch-and-bird motifs. According to a description dating from 1784, there were many bracket clocks at Schloss Esterháza, including a number with porcelain cases, as in the prince’s bedchamber. The noble privilege of being able to measure time here affords a little control over the fugacity of human existence; the ambivalence of this—situated as it is between Heaven and Earth—is the foundation of Baroque art. It was meant to offer a taste of the life to come, where “eternity and beauty embrace.”35

Painterly Refinement

fig. 9

fig. 10

The years between 1735 and 1744, just before the Du Paquier manufactory with its debts and glories was entrusted to the care of Maria Theresa, constitute the heyday of porcelain painting.

The décors were now principally oriented around European themes. Two covered écuelles and stands decorated en suite with exceptionally fine miniature landscapes showing huntsmen and game—the decoration being attributable to the court painter Christian Frey (active 1729–1751) — make up another artistically original item that well reflects the lifestyle of the nobility. This precious pair was discovered by the gallery Röbbig in Munich and is now privately owned.

A stand with the same decoration is documented as having been in the former Tillmann Collection; at the Gardiner Museum, a further stand is preserved showing a huntsman and game featured in a landscape with rock formations, within which a skilfully executed lion’s head can also be gradually discerned (see detail on p. 204).36 A particularly striking feature of Frey’s painting is its warm, sensitive colouration. The airy foliage of his trees and his rendering of depth and distance in hilly landscapes show his virtuosic mastery of the stipple technique of miniature painting. Working in a manner that has much in common with early eighteenth-century Austrian landscape painting, Frey was outstandingly successful in evoking its idealized atmosphere on porcelain.37 The rich gilding of the rims, handles, and cover finials—which surprisingly enough, given the overall purely European theme, are chinoiserie figures—performs the role that might otherwise be allotted to gilded bronze mounts, suggesting that the pieces were destined for a recipient of elevated rank and status. The elaborate form of the Baroque grotesque handles is also found on other important objects from the Du Paquier manufactory, such as two tureens signed by Jacobus Helchis (dates unknown), which were likewise conceived as highly artistic display pieces.38 Christian Frey was in imperial service as a hofbefreiter Maler. Therefore, in return for being permanently available and ready to fulfil imperial commissions, such as important diplomatic gifts at reasonable rates, he enjoyed a court dispensation from the obligations of guild membership, taxes, and tolls. The fact that Christian Frey of Augsburg enjoyed this status makes him a unique figure amongst the porcelain painters of his time. However, with the exception of the record of his marriage on June 17, 1724, in Vienna and further entries in church registers up to 1751, we know almost nothing about his life.39

9 Pair of écuelles and stands, Austria, Du Paquier, decoration attributed to Christian Frey, 1735–40, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 15 cm, W. 22 cm (écuelles), Diam. 26.5 cm (stands).

Private collection.

10 Plate with stag hunt, Austria, Du Paquier, decorated by Christian Frey, ca. 1735–41, hard-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels and gilding, H. 4 cm, W. 26 cm. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner.

[ 92 ]

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H FR A N C E

fig. 1

figs. 2/3 fig. 4

[ 93 ]

duc’s accomplishments while summing up the meeting of art and nature that took place in this environment. The list of glories encompasses a menagerie of live animals, a natural history cabinet, the collecting of East Asian and Near Eastern objects, and France’s own production of porcelain supported by the duc. A rare elephant figure made in the late 1730s at the porcelain manufactory established at Chantilly, now at the Gardiner Museum, stems from this rich context. It is this small but mighty creature that Meredith Chilton generously gifted the Gardiner to mark her retirement in 2017 that sparked the present excursus into the manufactory’s representation of animals.3 The Chantilly porcelain manufactory produced a group of small and varied figures representing both local and foreign fauna.4 Some are free-standing figures, like the Gardiner’s elephant, while others support magots figures or are joined to functional objects such as inkstands and small potpourri vases. Pieces were also adapted and transformed into more complex assemblages by Paris’s marchands-merciers, such as wall lights. This essay seeks to enlighten this underexplored aspect of the manufactory’s output. It starts by locating the pieces in the context of Chantilly’s porcelain production, itself part of an artistic milieu created by a prince who consciously sought to rival the arts of Asia. It then defines the multifaceted culture of animal display that characterized life at his court and which provides the most immediate context for the representation of animals in the new medium of porcelain. The final part of this discussion reverts to the elephant at the Gardiner Museum, exploring how the figure of a specimen seldom seen in the flesh in France stood as an expression of both power and scientific curiosity.5

Chantilly and the Arts of Asia Louis-Henri, duc de Bourbon, prince de Condé, hailed from one of the most prestigious ruling families of France, the Condé being third in rank after the royal family and the house of Orléans.

As Louis XV’s cousin, Louis-Henri assumed the role of prime minister in 1723 and exerted considerable power over the young king. However, he fell out of favour three years later and was exiled from Versailles to his estate at Chantilly, located near Paris.6 His exile initiated the most important period of artistic patronage at Chantilly.7 Susan Miller describes Chantilly in the 1730s as a “microcosm of France’s efforts to surpass the rest of Europe in acquiring and producing luxury goods.”8 Louis-Henri’s extensive assembly of East Asian lacquer, furniture, textiles, porcelain, and other objects exemplified the continued fascination with Asia that had been sparked by the diplomatic gifts presented at Versailles by the Siamese embassy of 1686.9 His interests however went beyond mere appreciation, as he encouraged a series of artistic endeavours aimed at adapting and imitating Asian objects in his collection. Two workshops located in the vaults of his château produced imitation lacquer and painted and printed fabrics in the manner of Indian textiles.10 Very little evidence from the lacquer and textile workshops survives besides Fraisse’s Livre de Desseins Chinois.11 LouisHenri also dabbled in chemistry in his personal laboratory, where he allegedly attempted to make porcelain.12 A panel in Christophe Huet’s La grande singerie, c. 1735, one of two decorative

2 Stag and doe, France, Chantilly, ca. 1740, soft -paste porcelain with tin-opacified glaze and overglaze enamels, L. 21.3 cm, H. 17.8 cm (stag). Private Collection.

3 Leopard, France, Chantilly, 1735–40, soft -paste porcelain with tin-opacified lead glaze and overglaze enamels, H. 13.3 cm.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982.

[ 92 ]

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H FR A N C E

fig. 1

figs. 2/3 fig. 4

[ 93 ]

duc’s accomplishments while summing up the meeting of art and nature that took place in this environment. The list of glories encompasses a menagerie of live animals, a natural history cabinet, the collecting of East Asian and Near Eastern objects, and France’s own production of porcelain supported by the duc. A rare elephant figure made in the late 1730s at the porcelain manufactory established at Chantilly, now at the Gardiner Museum, stems from this rich context. It is this small but mighty creature that Meredith Chilton generously gifted the Gardiner to mark her retirement in 2017 that sparked the present excursus into the manufactory’s representation of animals.3 The Chantilly porcelain manufactory produced a group of small and varied figures representing both local and foreign fauna.4 Some are free-standing figures, like the Gardiner’s elephant, while others support magots figures or are joined to functional objects such as inkstands and small potpourri vases. Pieces were also adapted and transformed into more complex assemblages by Paris’s marchands-merciers, such as wall lights. This essay seeks to enlighten this underexplored aspect of the manufactory’s output. It starts by locating the pieces in the context of Chantilly’s porcelain production, itself part of an artistic milieu created by a prince who consciously sought to rival the arts of Asia. It then defines the multifaceted culture of animal display that characterized life at his court and which provides the most immediate context for the representation of animals in the new medium of porcelain. The final part of this discussion reverts to the elephant at the Gardiner Museum, exploring how the figure of a specimen seldom seen in the flesh in France stood as an expression of both power and scientific curiosity.5

Chantilly and the Arts of Asia Louis-Henri, duc de Bourbon, prince de Condé, hailed from one of the most prestigious ruling families of France, the Condé being third in rank after the royal family and the house of Orléans.

As Louis XV’s cousin, Louis-Henri assumed the role of prime minister in 1723 and exerted considerable power over the young king. However, he fell out of favour three years later and was exiled from Versailles to his estate at Chantilly, located near Paris.6 His exile initiated the most important period of artistic patronage at Chantilly.7 Susan Miller describes Chantilly in the 1730s as a “microcosm of France’s efforts to surpass the rest of Europe in acquiring and producing luxury goods.”8 Louis-Henri’s extensive assembly of East Asian lacquer, furniture, textiles, porcelain, and other objects exemplified the continued fascination with Asia that had been sparked by the diplomatic gifts presented at Versailles by the Siamese embassy of 1686.9 His interests however went beyond mere appreciation, as he encouraged a series of artistic endeavours aimed at adapting and imitating Asian objects in his collection. Two workshops located in the vaults of his château produced imitation lacquer and painted and printed fabrics in the manner of Indian textiles.10 Very little evidence from the lacquer and textile workshops survives besides Fraisse’s Livre de Desseins Chinois.11 LouisHenri also dabbled in chemistry in his personal laboratory, where he allegedly attempted to make porcelain.12 A panel in Christophe Huet’s La grande singerie, c. 1735, one of two decorative

2 Stag and doe, France, Chantilly, ca. 1740, soft -paste porcelain with tin-opacified glaze and overglaze enamels, L. 21.3 cm, H. 17.8 cm (stag). Private Collection.

3 Leopard, France, Chantilly, 1735–40, soft -paste porcelain with tin-opacified lead glaze and overglaze enamels, H. 13.3 cm.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982.

[ 102 ]

11 Elephant, France, Chantilly, 1735–40, soft paste porcelain with tin-opacified lead glaze and overglaze enamels, H. 21 cm, W. 25.2 cm, D. 20 cm. Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris.

12 Elephant with magot, France, Chantilly, ca. 1735–40, soft -paste porcelain with tinopacified glaze, H. 25.5 cm. Musée Condé, Chantilly.

13 Elephant mounted to support a clock, Japan, Arita, 1670–1790, porcelain with overglaze enamels, French mounts ca. 1730, clock by Étienne Lenoir, H. 44.5 cm. Munich Residence, Reiches Zimmer, porcelain cabinet (former mirror cabinet), R.61.

14 Elephant, China, Dehua, Qing dynasty, 1620–1720, porcelain with white glaze, H. 10.8 cm, W. 17.1 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Given by the Second Earl of Morley. Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology.

15 The great elephant brought into England and landed August third 1675, John Dunstall, 1675, etching. The British Museum, London.

16 Elephant, France, Chantilly, 1735–40 (side view of fig. 1).

[ 102 ]

11 Elephant, France, Chantilly, 1735–40, soft paste porcelain with tin-opacified lead glaze and overglaze enamels, H. 21 cm, W. 25.2 cm, D. 20 cm. Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris.

12 Elephant with magot, France, Chantilly, ca. 1735–40, soft -paste porcelain with tinopacified glaze, H. 25.5 cm. Musée Condé, Chantilly.

13 Elephant mounted to support a clock, Japan, Arita, 1670–1790, porcelain with overglaze enamels, French mounts ca. 1730, clock by Étienne Lenoir, H. 44.5 cm. Munich Residence, Reiches Zimmer, porcelain cabinet (former mirror cabinet), R.61.

14 Elephant, China, Dehua, Qing dynasty, 1620–1720, porcelain with white glaze, H. 10.8 cm, W. 17.1 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Given by the Second Earl of Morley. Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology.

15 The great elephant brought into England and landed August third 1675, John Dunstall, 1675, etching. The British Museum, London.

16 Elephant, France, Chantilly, 1735–40 (side view of fig. 1).

HONOURING THE PAST: Sèvres and Bernard Palissy

Jeffrey Munger

A

hard-paste porcelain plaque depicting the French Renaissance potter Bernard Palissy (1510–1590), accompanied by an elaborate frame specifically designed for it, was one of the most ambitious of all the historical revival works made at the Sèvres factory in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Beginning primarily in the third and fourth decades of the century, the factory produced vases, wares, and decorative furnishings reflecting a variety of historicizing styles1 as well as those deliberately evoking Asian art.2 The variety of influences was considerable, with both Antiquity and the Gothic periods serving as important sources of subject matter as well as of decorative motifs.3 However, it was the Renaissance in particular to which the factory looked for inspiration for a wide range of forms, motifs, and themes at this time.4 fig. 1

The framed plaque, which was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2007, not only depicts one of the major artistic figures of the French Renaissance but also incorporates Renaissance styles and techniques in the composition of its mixed media frame. The rectangular plaque portrays Palissy prominently in the centre of the composition, holding one of his ceramic ewers while standing in front of his kiln. In his other hand, Palissy holds a fragment of a piece of furniture, and additional pieces of broken furniture lie at his feet along with the axe that he used to destroy them. Palissy’s wife, who is seated to the left, conveys her dismay at this destruction,

1 Plaque depicting Bernard Palissy, France, Sèvres, painted by Nicolas-Marie Moriot, enamel decoration by Jacob Meyer-Heine, bisque figures modelled by Jean-Baptiste-Jules Klagmann, frame by Armand Feuchère, 1846, hard-paste porcelain, bisque porcelain, enamel, gilt bronze, H. 49.5 cm, W. 45.1 cm, D. 6.7 cm, signed: at lower left “Moriot 1846 d’après Debacq,” lower right scroll of frame “Mre Rle de Sèvres,” lower left scroll “Meyer-Heine.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, The Isaacson-Draper Foundation Gift, 2007.

HONOURING THE PAST: Sèvres and Bernard Palissy

Jeffrey Munger

A

hard-paste porcelain plaque depicting the French Renaissance potter Bernard Palissy (1510–1590), accompanied by an elaborate frame specifically designed for it, was one of the most ambitious of all the historical revival works made at the Sèvres factory in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Beginning primarily in the third and fourth decades of the century, the factory produced vases, wares, and decorative furnishings reflecting a variety of historicizing styles1 as well as those deliberately evoking Asian art.2 The variety of influences was considerable, with both Antiquity and the Gothic periods serving as important sources of subject matter as well as of decorative motifs.3 However, it was the Renaissance in particular to which the factory looked for inspiration for a wide range of forms, motifs, and themes at this time.4 fig. 1

The framed plaque, which was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2007, not only depicts one of the major artistic figures of the French Renaissance but also incorporates Renaissance styles and techniques in the composition of its mixed media frame. The rectangular plaque portrays Palissy prominently in the centre of the composition, holding one of his ceramic ewers while standing in front of his kiln. In his other hand, Palissy holds a fragment of a piece of furniture, and additional pieces of broken furniture lie at his feet along with the axe that he used to destroy them. Palissy’s wife, who is seated to the left, conveys her dismay at this destruction,

1 Plaque depicting Bernard Palissy, France, Sèvres, painted by Nicolas-Marie Moriot, enamel decoration by Jacob Meyer-Heine, bisque figures modelled by Jean-Baptiste-Jules Klagmann, frame by Armand Feuchère, 1846, hard-paste porcelain, bisque porcelain, enamel, gilt bronze, H. 49.5 cm, W. 45.1 cm, D. 6.7 cm, signed: at lower left “Moriot 1846 d’après Debacq,” lower right scroll of frame “Mre Rle de Sèvres,” lower left scroll “Meyer-Heine.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, The Isaacson-Draper Foundation Gift, 2007.

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TR AV E LS TH RO U G H FR A N C E

TA X I LE D OAT

5 Plate La Vendange and detail, France, Sèvres, decorated by Taxile Doat, 1900–01, pâte nouvelle porcelain, Diam. 48 cm, mark: factory fabrication mark “S. 98” and triangular decoration mark with date 1900, both printed in green under the glaze, incised “[E] 97 11 PN.” Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres, France.

3 Plaque, France, Taxile Doat Studio, 1900, pâte nouvelle porcelain, Diam. 23.2 cm, mark: on underside “T Doat / 1901 / Sèvres,” incised and coloured in green on reverse. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

4 Flask with stopper, France, Taxile Doat Studio, pâte nouvelle porcelain, 1899–1902, H. 26 cm, W. 19.7 cm, mark: on underside “T Doat / Sevres” in green enamel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Visiting Committee for European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Contributions and 17th–19th Century French Works of Art Acquisition Fund, 2012.1.

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[ 142 ]

TR AV E LS TH RO U G H FR A N C E

TA X I LE D OAT

5 Plate La Vendange and detail, France, Sèvres, decorated by Taxile Doat, 1900–01, pâte nouvelle porcelain, Diam. 48 cm, mark: factory fabrication mark “S. 98” and triangular decoration mark with date 1900, both printed in green under the glaze, incised “[E] 97 11 PN.” Cité de la Céramique, Sèvres, France.

3 Plaque, France, Taxile Doat Studio, 1900, pâte nouvelle porcelain, Diam. 23.2 cm, mark: on underside “T Doat / 1901 / Sèvres,” incised and coloured in green on reverse. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

4 Flask with stopper, France, Taxile Doat Studio, pâte nouvelle porcelain, 1899–1902, H. 26 cm, W. 19.7 cm, mark: on underside “T Doat / Sevres” in green enamel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Visiting Committee for European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Contributions and 17th–19th Century French Works of Art Acquisition Fund, 2012.1.

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G I FTS WO RTH Y O F TH E S H O GU N

GIFTS WORTHY OF THE SHOGUN: Nabeshima Porcelain in the Macdonald Collection

Daniel Chen

T

he Macdonald Collection at the Gardiner Museum covers the wide range of Japanese porcelain styles produced mainly in the seventeenth century. The collection includes a variety of shoki or early Imari sometsuke, otherwise known as blue and white, and features examples of the vibrant Ko-Kutani style, early enamelled wares, with particular strength in representing Kakiemon and Kakiemon-inspired porcelain.1 Chiefly produced for an export market when European traders were unable to access porcelain from China, Kakiemon porcelain supplied a steady source of inspiration for European porcelain manufacturers. In Japan, a different type of porcelain was prized. This essay focuses on a comparatively small number of the collection’s significant Nabeshima porcelain.

Nabeshima porcelain was named after the Nabeshima daimyo, the feudal lord who governed the Saga domain where this porcelain was produced. The creation of Nabeshima porcelain was for the express purpose of providing a tribute gift to the Tokugawa shoguns

1 Cup with floral design, Hizen ware, Japan, Arita, late seventeenth/early eighteenth century, porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze enamels, H. 5 cm. The Macdonald Collection.

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G I FTS WO RTH Y O F TH E S H O GU N

GIFTS WORTHY OF THE SHOGUN: Nabeshima Porcelain in the Macdonald Collection

Daniel Chen

T

he Macdonald Collection at the Gardiner Museum covers the wide range of Japanese porcelain styles produced mainly in the seventeenth century. The collection includes a variety of shoki or early Imari sometsuke, otherwise known as blue and white, and features examples of the vibrant Ko-Kutani style, early enamelled wares, with particular strength in representing Kakiemon and Kakiemon-inspired porcelain.1 Chiefly produced for an export market when European traders were unable to access porcelain from China, Kakiemon porcelain supplied a steady source of inspiration for European porcelain manufacturers. In Japan, a different type of porcelain was prized. This essay focuses on a comparatively small number of the collection’s significant Nabeshima porcelain.

Nabeshima porcelain was named after the Nabeshima daimyo, the feudal lord who governed the Saga domain where this porcelain was produced. The creation of Nabeshima porcelain was for the express purpose of providing a tribute gift to the Tokugawa shoguns

1 Cup with floral design, Hizen ware, Japan, Arita, late seventeenth/early eighteenth century, porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze enamels, H. 5 cm. The Macdonald Collection.

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E D ITE D BY K A R I N E TS O U M I S & VA N ESSA S I G A LA S

9 783897 905849

Passion_Cover_END.indd 1

arnoldsche

ISBN 978-3-89790-584-9

A PA SS I O N F O R P O R C E L A I N

With contributions by Daniel Chen, Katharina Hantschmann, Peter Kaellgren, Sebastian Kuhn, Claudia Lehner-Jobst, Thomas Michie, Jeffrey Munger, Linda Roth, Rosalind Savill, Vanessa Sigalas, and Karine Tsoumis.

TS O U M I S / S I G A LA S

A Passion for Porcelain brings together papers delivered at an international symposium held in 2018 at the Gardiner Museum, Toronto (CA), in honour of Meredith Chilton, C.M., one of the foremost scholars and curators of eighteenth-century European porcelain. Authored by leading scholars in the field, the essays take us on a journey from Sèvres to Japan via Boston, where we encounter both revered artists and anonymous makers, together with passionate collectors past and present. The contributions also explore the medium of porcelain in the context of artistic rivalry and gift exchange, as an object of fashion and scientific curiosity, and as a symbol of status and power. Together they reveal the versatility of the medium, changing perceptions and endless possibilities for porcelain scholarship.

A PA SS I O N FOR PORCELAIN Essays in Honour of Meredith Chilton

arnoldsche

11.02.20 15:50