Lot 5. A Böttger Stoneware Polished Cover, Circa 1712; 3 1/2 in., 9 cm. high. Lot sold: 2,934 EUR (Estimate: 2,000 - 3,000 EUR). © Sotheby's

probably modelled by Irminger, partially polished, the domed form moulded in relief with a band of acanthus leaves encircling a knop finial.

Literature: Hermann Jedding, Meissner Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts in Hamburger Privatbesitz, Hamburg, 1982, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, no. 7.

Exhibited: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 4 June-5 September 1982.

Note: A very similar Böttger polished stoneware cover applied with acanthus leaves, and bearing Japanese Palace inventory number N. 32. R, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, acc. no. 42.205.18, gifted in 1941. The 1770 inventory of the Japanese Palace lists in the Saxon Stoneware section under 32:

'Zwey Becher mit Engels-Köpfgen und Blättern belegt, nebst Deckeln, 13 1/2 Zoll hoch, 5 Zoll in Dimeetro, No. 32', [Two beakers with angel-heads and applied leaves, with covers, 13 1/2 Zoll high, 5 Zoll in diameter...],

- Claus Boltz, 'Japanisches Palais-Inventar 1770 und Turmzimmer-Inventar 1769' in Keramos, No. 153, 1996, p. 103.

A Meissen cover, circa 1712-15 (Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, acc. no. 42.205.18)

 It is probable the present cover originally belonged to a slender and tall beaker vase, much like the example moulded with acanthus leaves, and mounted in gilt bronze, in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, inv. no. Ke573, illustrated in Willi Goder, et al., Johann Friedrich Böttger, Die Erfindung Des Europäischen Porzellans, Leipzig, 1982, p. 185, no. 120.

A Meissen beaker vase (Courtesy Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, inv. no. Ke573).

A beaker vase in early white porcelain, matching the description of the 1770 inventory entry mentioned above, with a cover of the present form, is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, acc. no. C.833&A-1920. Such a vase, without its cover, was sold at Sotheby's New York, Property from the Collection of the Late Mrs. Martha L. Isaacson, 22 May 2001, lot 150.

An early Meissen beaker vase, sold, Sotheby's New York, Property from the Collection of the Late Mrs. Martha L. Isaacson, 22 May 2001, lot 150.

A plain Böttger polished stoneware cover of this form, and bearing inventory number N. 42. R, remains in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden, bearing inv. no. PE 2492.

Sotheby's. Transformed by Fire A Private Collection of Early Meissen, Cologne, 1 July 2022