A rare Meissen Hausmaler teapot and cover, the porcelain early 1720s, the decoration probably circa 1740

Painted in black monochrome with a continuous classical landscape scene depicting figures by ruins on one side and Bacchanalian figures on the reverse, below a gilt band with pendant scrollwork and flowers, iron-red line borders to rims, the domed cover similarly decorated, the curved spout with a mask terminal, 10.7cm high (2)

Provenance:
Mr and Mrs H.G. Terwilliger Collection, Vermont;
The Rosa Alba Collection of Meissen Porcelain

The Hausmaler decorator responsible for this distinctive monochrome style, found on Meissen and Du Paquier porcelain, (sometimes referred to as the 'Indian Ink' painter) remains to be identified. The gilt borders may indicate a Bayreuth Hausmaler, but the style perhaps closer to Vienna or Bohemian decorators (see S. Kuhn, The Hausmaler, in M. Chilton/C. Lehner-Jobst (eds.), Fired by Passion, vol. I (2009), pp. 543-544).