Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur Berlin KPM

Oval platter from the last dinner service for King Frederick II. Porcelain, cobalt blue underglaze decoration, colored overglaze decoration, etched gilding. Model 631, English glaze. A large, finely painted bouquet of roses, tulips and primroses in the center, surrounded by three calices. A gold-contoured blue ribbon around the flag, entwined with a gold laurel leaf wreath. Blue sceptre mark, impressed number 23, incised III. Restored chip to the right edge of the handle. W 49.7 cm. Berlin, KPM, 1786. Not even four weeks before his death on August 17, 1986, Frederick II ordered three large dinner services, each with 72 dinner plates etc., from his porcelain manufactory. Under the date 20.7.86, Georg Lenz lists the service from which this roasting platter comes: "painted with natural colorful bouquet of flowers, on the board a dark blue band entwined gold engraved laurel tendrils and gilded edge". The service cost 4018 Reichstaler. It was produced at least in part, but was not delivered to the court. Provenance Most recently Berlin private collection, acquired in 2013. Literature For the order, see the archival tables in Lenz, Berliner Porzellan. Die Manufaktur Friedrichs des Grossen 1763 - 1786, 1st vol., Berlin 1913, p. 16. See also ibid. vol. 2, fig. 783. Cf. Baer, Ein wiederentdecktes Tafelservice Friedrichs des Grossen. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der spät-friderizianischen KPM-Service, in: Spiegelungen, Mainz 1986, pp. 185-204. See also cat. Berlin Porcelain. Splendor and Elegance of Tables and Tables 1763 - 1850, Münster 2006, cat. No. 63.