646 - GEBRÜDER SCHRÖDEL

GEBRÜDER SCHRÖDEL Dresden Title: Large Silver Cloche from a Service of Elector Friedrich August III. Date: 1791. Material: Silver. Weight ca. 2370 g. Measurement: Height 23 cm, 43 x 27 cm. Seal: Inspection mark Dresden (Rosenberg no. 1671), several assayer's marks, maker's mark brothers Schrödel (ca. 1770), ibid. no. 1815). Description: Large domed cloche with slightly scalloped rim. The finia at the top is formed out of leaved. On the bottom the monogramed "FA im Schilde unter Kurhut" with inventory number 11 and weight details "10 Mr. 6 lt. 1p 3d" engraved. The present dish cover is recorded on page 430 of the Chur-fürstl.-Sächßl. Silber-Kammer-Inventarium, 1ter Band of 1789 and belongs to a group of twelve examples of this size. A note beneath the listing records, in essence, that the Schrödel brothers made the pieces from 13-lot silver and that the value of the silver and the workmanship were settled according to an invoice dated November 1791. The present dish cover therefore formed part of a later supplementary delivery to the Dresden court. A further entry indicates that the covers were altered or reworked again in 1798. This may have concerned the form of the handles, which differs slightly from that of earlier examples: whereas earlier dish covers feature berries in addition to foliage, the handle here is composed exclusively of leaves. The covers for serving dishes, referred to as “Glocken” at the Dresden court in the eighteenth century, served both a representative and a practical purpose. They enhanced the ceremonial presentation of the courtly table, kept food warm and protected it from contamination. The model represented here is characteristic of the Dresden court style of the late eighteenth century and was produced in both oval and circular form. The present dish cover belongs to the so-called “Silberservice mit FA im Schilde”, made for Frederick Augustus III of Saxony (1750–1827). The service was commissioned in 1772 and was supplemented on several occasions during the remainder of the eighteenth century. Its creation was connected with the consequences of the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), during which large parts of the Saxon silver holdings had been melted down. Preparations for new commissions began in 1765 and gained further impetus following the marriage of Frederick Augustus III to Amalie Auguste of Palatinate-Zweibrücken in 1769. Carl David Schrödel (1712–1773) was entrusted with the execution; after his death, his widow and his twin sons Carl Christian and Friedrich Christian Schrödel (both 1745–1810) continued to work for the Dresden court. In the Saxon court silver inventory, the service is recorded as “An Silbernen Service mit FA im Schilde gezeichnet”. The service was probably dispersed in 1918 in connection with the settlement of the House of Wettin. Today, dishes and dish covers from the service are preserved in the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden. Pieces of cutlery from the service were also offered and sold as part of the so-called Moritzburg Treasure at Sotheby’s in London on 17 December 1999. Provenance: - Private collection Hesse, later transferred to a foundation. Literature: - Ulli Arnold: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Grünes Gewölbe. Dresdner Hofsilber des 18. Jahrhunderts (PATRIMONIA 74), Berlin/Dresden, 1994. - Friedrich August Freiherr O'Byrn: Die Hof-Silberkammer und die Hof-Kellerei zu Dresden, Dresden, 1880. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: The lot is unsuitable for parcel shipping. Transport only by shipping company after consultation following the auction. additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: max. 41.65 Euro over a total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: 1.8 o/oo USA by individual arrangement after the auction. #Gebrüder Schrödel #Germany #18th C. #Silver.