A Rare Coffee Service with Hunting Motifs, Meissen c. 1745

porcelain, polychromed and gilt, 6-piece coffee service with coffee pot and 5 cups with saucers, hunting scenes based on engravings by Johann Elias Ridinger, pot height 23 cm, partly with underglaze blue crossed swords mark, partly restored, (GO)
The finely painted and detailed scenic depictions of hunters accompanied by their dogs, chasing deer, roe deer and wild boar, sometimes sitting on horseback or on the lookout, are an outstanding feature of this extensive coffee service.
The numerous hunting motifs not only go back to the well-known engravings with hunting motifs by Johann Elias Ridinger (1698-1767), but also reflect a growing interest in the various types of hunting and the associated hunting fashion. Hunting was one of the most prominent events at all European courts and its social significance in terms of courtly representation can be seen in the large number of hunting lodges and the extensive hunting grounds surrounding them. Hunting was not only the staging of power, but also a deliberately informal framework for the residence palaces and their strict court ceremonial.
The detailed painting was created in the style of the porcelain painter Christian Friedrich Kühnel (1719-1792) in the third quarter of the 18th century. The soft drawing style of the figures and their garments, the poses and the muted greyish landscapes are typical of his work.

For the attribution to Kühnel, see: Pietsch, Ulrich (ed.): Porzellan Parforce, Jagdliches Meißner Porzellan des 18. Jh., Munich 2005, nos. 91, 99. and Rückert, Rainer: Meissener Porzellan 1710-1810, Munich 1966, no. 744 ff.