A Pair of Large Snowball Vases with Goldfinches, Golden Orioles and Wagtails, Second Half of the 19th Century

(“Schneeballen-Potpourri mit Vögeln”)
porcelain, polychromed and gilt, height c. 50 cm, model by Johann Joachim Kaendler, underglaze blue crossed swords mark, model no. 2774, partially restored, (GO)
Johann Joachim Kaendler first decorated a coffee and tea service with guilder roses (“Schneebaln Blüten”) in 1739. The model for this was Chinese porcelain. A magnificent vase decorated with guilder roses and a bust of Augustus III in relief followed in around 1741. Vases made using this technique were, and still are, extremely complex to produce and therefore very expensive. Frederick the Great was much fond of the vases, which had a very naturalistic effect, especially by candlelight, and in 1762 he ordered numerous centrepieces to decorate the New Palace in Potsdam.

Cf:
Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Potsdam, inventory no. XII 2810, XII 84.

Lit.:
Jean Louis Sponsel, Kabinettstücke der Meissener Porzellan-Manufaktur von Johann Joachim Kändler, H. Seemann Nachf., Leipzig 1900, p. 144.
Ulrich Pietsch, Claudia Banz (eds.), Triumph der blauen Schwerter, E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 2010, p. 347.