487 - Meissen Ceremonial Bowl with Floral Relief and Gilding, Crossed Swords Mark, 20th C.

Meissen Ceremonial Bowl with Floral Relief and Gilding, Crossed Swords Mark, 20th C. Porcelain, white glazed, with relief and gilding. Round shallow bowl by the Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen, the wall built up in a star shape from tapering leaf fields. The raised ribs, tendrils and buds picked out in gold throughout, the rim edge gilt. The well decorated with flower and leaf ornament. In the base the underglaze blue crossed swords mark, together with an impressed and a painted number. Good condition commensurate with age, the gilding rubbed. H. 5.5 cm, diam. 28 cm. Bowls with moulded flower and leaf relief have been part of the repertoire of the Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen since the 18th century. The relief is applied and modelled by hand on the leather-hard body; the subsequent gilding follows the raised ribs and tendrils and is burnished after firing. Meissen has used the crossed swords as its manufactory mark since 1722 and as a registered trademark since 1875; it is regarded as one of the oldest continuously used marks in Europe. Impressed numerals on the underside are mould and repairer's numbers and served to identify the craftsmen who formed the piece within the works.