35 - Porcelain plate from the Green Family, China, Kangxi period (1662–1722)

Porcelain plate from the Green Family, China, Kangxi period (1662–1722) The central design features large peonies and their foliage rising above rocks and bamboo, around which butterflies and small insects flit. On the left, a fanciful mark within a square accompanied by a leaf. The rim is decorated with six cartouches featuring peony motifs on a background of geometric friezes, small flowers, and swastikas within diamonds. On the reverse, a blue-enameled mushroom mark enclosed in a double circle and the incised inventory mark “N: 131 工” from the collection of Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. Diameter: 36 cm Chips and nicks. The mark “N: 131 工 ” corresponds to the series of twelve plates decorated with the green family of flowers—some of which are also adorned with a bird—documented in the inventories of the Dresden Porcelain Collection (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, inventory no. 324, 1721, Green Family, p. 830: “131. 12 pieces, round bowls, decorated inside with all manner of flowers, some with a bird painted on them, 3 Z. deep and 15 Z. in diameter. ” – “131. 12 round plates, richly painted on the inside with flowers, some with a bird painted on them, 3 inches deep and 15 inches in diameter”). Two other plates from the same series, bearing the same inventory number incised beneath the base, are preserved in the Porzellansammlung in Dresden (PO 6929 and PO 6930). The corresponding entry in the 1779 inventory also provides details on the circumstances under which these plates were acquired for the collections of Augustus the Strong: “In the same year, in the month of July, His Royal Majesty purchased from Privy Councilor von Rechenberg: ” – “In July of that same year, His Royal Majesty purchased the following items from Privy Councilor von Rechenberg.”