Meissen

Ornate piece of c.1780 furniture from sheikh’s collection heads a sell-out auction

These two teapots – among the top-selling lots at the Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer's premium) sale of English and European Ceramics and Glass on June 16 – came for sale from the family of Lady Kate Davson, known to many by her maiden name of Kate Foster (1938-2020).

European ceramics from renowned US collector come to the New York rostrum.

Distinctive bureau cabinet form could have been intended for presentation to the guild.

While Georgian spectacles are relatively common at auction, 17th century examples are a rarer beast.

Second slice from Ducret collection plus other sources achieve high prices in Zurich

Dealer Lawrence Mitchell has repurposed his blog, themeissenman.com, to help collectors and salerooms distinguish between authentic and imitation pieces.

The 650-lot auction at Quinn’s Auction Galleries in Falls Church, Virginia, on January 30 features items from several local properties.

The rules of kriegsspiel (war game), popular at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, were partly based on the much older game of chess. Typically, kriegsspiel was played across three boards, with players only knowing the position of their own pieces and an umpire officiating.

Joseph Fröhlich (1694-1757) was a well-known figure at the Saxon court from the late 1720s onwards. He was appointed court jester to Augustus the Strong in 1727 and held the position for three decades – perfect for a man whose family name translates as ‘happy’.

A 176-lot group of Meissen and other European porcelain from the collection of Dr Siegfried Ducret, consigned from the estate of Rosmarie Schmidt-Ducret, will be offered at auction by Koller in Zurich on September 24.

This Meissen porcelain teapot from c.1722 will feature in the sale series to be held by Hargesheimer of Dusseldorf from September 10-12.

There is absolutely no way that one can describe the decoration of a late 19th century Meissen ewer sold by Wendl (21% buyer’s premium) in Rudolstadt as restrained.

International bidders competed online and by phone against the UK trade and collectors for a group of 18th century Meissen figures offered at Adam Partridge (20% buyer’s premium) in Macclesfield.

The sale of the Müller-Frei collection of paintings and decorative arts held by Koller (25% buyer’s premium) in Zurich last month included two early 18th century Meissen figure groups that outstripped their estimates.

By tradition, Count Heinrich von Brühl (1700-63), chief minister and favourite to Augustus III, was a man famed for his fashion sense. His tailor was thus an important part of his entourage.

Freeman’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) of Philadelphia opened its latest Design sale with a Meissen Whiplash dinner service designed in 1903-4 by Henry Van de Velde, the Belgian Art Nouveau architect and designer.

Having been heavily criticised for its antiquated designs at the World Exhibition of 1900 in Paris, the Meissen porcelain factory commissioned avant-garde designers to produce more vibrant pieces.