A rare Nymphenburg ecuelle and cover, circa 1924. photo Bonhams

Raised on three gilt paw feet, finely decorated by Rudolf Diewock with chinoiserie vignettes in tooled gilding on a black ground, the rims reserved with gilt borders of linked circles,14cm high; 15.8cm diam., 'Nymphenburg' and crowned Bavarian shield stencilled in green, gilt circle mark for Rudolf Diewock, impressed 721 (2). Estimate: £1,000 - 1,500 

Notes: Rudolf Diewock (1890-1940) was active as a painter at the Nymhenburg manufactory from 1912 until his death. For this piece he based himself on chinoiserie engravings and prints of the 18th century, translating these in a modern language of large gilt chinoiserie figures finely burnished and toolded against a subtle mat ground. 

Another covered ecuelle listed as a sugar box, is published in A. Ziffer, Nymphenburger Moderne, Die Porzellan-Manufaktur im 20. Jahrhundert (1997), cat.no. 423, where the author notes that a similar box was included in an exhibition in Den Haag in 1931. A modern tête-à-tête based on the designs by Diewock is currently again being sold by the Nymphenburg factory.

Bonhams is grateful to Dr Alfred Ziffer for his kind assistance in cataloguing this lot.

Bonhams. 23 May 2012 10:30 a.m. London, New Bond Street. Fine European Ceramics