261 - Pair of large Meissen "Augustus Rex" vases with a yellow ground and persimmon-leaf decoration

Pair of large Meissen "Augustus Rex" vases with a yellow ground and persimmon-leaf decoration The body rises in a baluster shape from a flared, round base, featuring a rounded shoulder and a stepped, slightly conical neck. Highly domed lid with a stylized pine cone knob. On both sides of the body and on the lid, set against a lemon-yellow background, are four-pass-shaped recessed panels featuring a colorful Indian floral decoration in the Kakiemon style, consisting of towering peony and chrysanthemum bushes and bouquets on a white ground. Polychrome painting accented with gold in iron red, purple, sea green, moss green, enamel blue, and yellow. The neck is decorated with scattered flowering branches and insects. Maker’s mark, likely for Johann Christoph Pietzsch (active since 1732) or Johann Daniel Rehschuh (active ca. 1723–1749). Partially and incompletely restored; AR (Augustus Rex) mark. Meissen. Circa 1730–1735. Height: 37 cm–38.5 cm. Porcelain pieces from the Meissen Manufactory bearing the “AR” (Augustus Rex) mark in underglaze blue were produced exclusively for Augustus the Strong. They were part of the private royal collection or served as gifts for international royal houses or high-ranking dignitaries. To fulfill Augustus the Strong’s desire for colored backgrounds, Johann Gregorius Hoeroldt—the creator of early Meissen vessel designs—experimented with various shades for porcelain surfaces between 1725 and 1730, laying the groundwork for what came to be known as “background porcelain.” The first colors, entered into the inventory of the Japanese Palace in 1727, were yellow, dark green, celadon, olive, brown, and paille (straw colors). See Rückert, Cat. Bavarian National Museum, no. 355ff.; Cat. Pietsch, Wark Collection, no. 312ff.; Weber/Eikelmann, Cat. Meissen Porcelain, vol. II, no. 439; Bavarian Museum, Inv. No. E 36 (form), Pietsch, Cat. Triumph of the Blue Swords, No. 229, Rückert, Biographical Data, pp. 123ff. Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Augustus the Strong. A pair of yellow-ground “Augustus Rex” vases with Kakiemon decoration. Brightly colored Indian floral decoration featuring peonies and chrysanthemum branches painted in iron red, sea green, moss green, purple, enamel blue, and yellow, framed within quatrefoil panels edged in purple. Former’s mark on the bottom. Partially and insignificantly restored. AR mark. Meissen. Circa 1730–1735.