A very rare and large Royal Meissen flower-encrusted circular tureen and cover, circa 1735The tureen applied with flower swags modelled by J.J. Kaendler tied at each end with a ribbon bow to entwined rose stems, also secured at the base by a bow, the cover applied with similar entwined rose stems forming the finial and terminating in other various flowers, the rim of the cover and the footrim with a gilt band, the interior of the cover and tureen with a burnished gilt ground, 23.5cm across handles; 17cm high crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue, impressed Dreher's mark * (2)注脚This rare and precious type of decoration has been associated with gifts of Meissen porcelain to Queen Sophie Dorothea of Prussia in 1735, and Maria Josepha, Electress of Saxony and Queen of Poland in 1738. J.J. Kaendler's work reports for November 1735 refer to bouillon cups with covers and stands applied with swags of roses tied with ribbons (quoted by S. Wittwer, Liasons Fragile: Exchanges of Gifts between Saxony and Prussia in the Early Eighteenth Century, in Fragile Diplomacy (2007), p.101). The work records in May, June of 1738 and September of 1739 state that the "flower service for Her Royal Majesty" (Maria Josepha) has applied decoration of other flowers as well as roses, though only a coffee service is mentioned.The inventories of the considerable collection of Meissen porcelain owned by Sophia Dorothea of Prussia include several entries that could correspond to the present lot. The 1738 inventory of Schloss Monbijou, for example, includes: 'Zwey rund [Terrinen mit Henkel] nebst Deckel und Schüsseln mit erhabenen Blumen' [two circular tureens with handles along with covers and dishes with raised flowers]; and the 1758 inventory of the queen's estate includes '2. weisse Terrinen mit Schüßeln und erhabenen Bouquetten' [2 white tureens with dishes and raised flowers] (published by M. Cassidy-Geiger, Meissen Porcelain for Sophie Dorothea of Prussia..., in Metropolitan Museum Journal 37 (2002), Appendix 1, p. 156, and Appendix 3, p. 159). Although it is not possible to identify these pieces with certainty, it is clear that pieces such as the present lot were considered appropriate for the grandest recipients.Only one other circular tureen and cover (without handles) is recorded, together with a teapot, a coffee pot, a milk jug, two covered two-handled cups with stands and a circular bowl, cover and stand, in the collection of the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin (illustrated by M. Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain (2008), fig. 256.1; and by U. Pietsch / C. Banz, Triumph der blauen Schwerter (2010), no. 168). Other parts of the same or closely similar service were sold by the executors of the late Prince S.A. Radziwill at Christie's London, 4 July 1977, lot 170; and from the Kramarsky Collection, Christie's New York, 30 October 1993, lot 31 (of which a small two-handled bowl and cover is now in the Arnhold Collection, New York (Cassidy-Geiger, op. cit., no. 256). A pair of small ecuelles, covers and stands is in the Louvre Museum, Paris (since 1884, inv. nos. TH582 and TH583). A coffee pot and cover, of which the spout, handle and applied flowers are covered in oxidised silver, is in the Grassi Museum, Leipzig (Dieter Gielke, Meissener Porzellan des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts (2003), no. 274. A small two-handled bowl and cover is in the Museo Giuseppe Gianetti, Saronno (L. Brambilla Bruni, Porcellane di Meissen (1994), no. 109).