Pair of Porcelain Sugar Bowls with Flower Knobs. Meissen Circa 1748-1775

Pair of porcelain sugar bowls
Meissen, 1748-1775 circa
Marked with crossed swords and number “92” of the gilder
They measure 5.11 in (13 cm) x 5.11 in (13 cm) in diameter
lb 2.3 (kg 1.06)
State of conservation: slight defects on the knobs.

The table services of the Meissen factory are a prime example of how widespread porcelain was in the courts of Europe and at all the tables of the nobility during the second half of the 18th century. The refinement of the forms and decorations and the great technical expertise achieved by the Dresden manufacturers were for a long time unsurpassed even when producing less famous decorations.

The two porcelain sugar bowls were shaped by molds and have a globular body; they are shaped and decorated alternately with compartments with raised flowers and smooth compartments on which a polychrome ornament with western flowers is outlined. The rim, decorated with a gold lattice motif, has a groove to hold the spoon. The dome-shaped lids bear the same ornamental motif and are topped by a knob shaped like a flower bud with thin petals and threadlike stamens.
The two sugar bowls are safely attributable to the Saxon manufacture of Meissen. The mold of the two works is consistent with similar tableware in terms of size and decorative methods such as, for example, the service cups or the coffee pots with “Watteaumalerei” decoration, dating from about 1748 to about 1775. Please see, in particular, the small tureen with applied handles coming from the service of the Court of Saxony known as the service with “Watteau green figures” (U. Pietch The Dresden Porcelain Collection: China, Japan, Meissen, 2006 pp. 130-131.) in which the similarity of the form, the flowers in relief, but, above all, the minor floral bunches make us all the more sure in making this attribution.
In the Otto Walcha's publication on Meissen porcelain, in particular, please compare the minor decorations with small flowers on the knob of a walking stick, which is very similar to that used in the decoration of the sugar bowls. (Otto Walcha, Meißner Porzellan von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart, Dresden 1973, nn. 167-169).