RARE PLAQUE "LE CHANT" Fulda, circa 1753–58. Painting attributed to Joseph Philipp Dannhöfer.

RARE PLAQUE "LE CHANT"

Fulda, circa 1753–58. Painting attributed to Joseph Philipp Dannhöfer.
Faience painted in sepia. Rectangular form. After Johann Esaias Nilson’s engraving "Le Chant" (Schuster no. 56), depicting a Watteauesque scene in a park landscape. In a carved wood frame. Unmarked on the glazed reverse.
24.3 × 19 cm.

Provenance:
- Sotheby's London auction, October 6, 1981, Lot 186.
- Peter Ducret Collection, Kilchberg; acquired at the above auction through Heinz Reichert in Munich.

Exhibited:
Gregor K. Stasch: Made in FD. Spitzentechnologie aus der Fuldaer Fayencemanufaktur (1741-1760), Vonderau Museum Fulda, March 13–May 31, 2015, exhibition catalog no. 179.

In 1751, the experienced Viennese painter Joseph Philipp Dannhöfer (1712–90) entered the service of the Fulda manufactory. He was one of the most widely travelled painters of his time, having already gained experience at the Du Paquier manufactory, at Meissen, in Bayreuth from 1737, and finally at Höchst from 1747 to 1750, where he was one of the most accomplished painters.

By this time, Adam Friedrich von Löwenfinck had already left the manufactory. Dannhöfer was a painter of the highest caliber and, together with the renowned painters Georg Friedrich Hess and his son Ignaz Hess, brought renewed impetus to the manufactory.

Among the known Fulda plaques, the painting of two plaques by Dannhöfer depicting the Holy Family and the Adoration of the Magi (Hüseler I, figs. 61, 62) appears to come closest to that of the present plaque.