A very rare Meissen porcelain Kakiemon celadon-ground tea kettle and cover, circa 1730-35

A near identical example was in the Erich von Goldschmidt-Rothschild Collection, Berlin, sold, H. Ball & P. Graupe, Berlin, 23-25 March 1931, lot 588. That example later entered a Swiss private collection and was subsequently sold at Bonhams, London, 5 June 2013, lot 28. A further celadon-ground tea kettle with a different Kakiemon design is in the Schneider collection, illustrated in Julia Weber, Meißener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, Stiftung Ernst Schneider in Schloss Lustheim, Band II, Munich, 2013, pp. 159-60, kat. no. 130. Weber observes a similarity to Japanese wine vessels owned by Augustus the Strong, though these examples were not included among the wares dispatched to the Meissen manufactory for replication. It is possible that the form was in production by 1727, based on a manufactory report of 12 August which refers to “Thee-Keßel”. Five examples formed part of the group confiscated from the palace of Count Hoym in 1731, originally intended for sale by the Paris merchant Lemaire, and were subsequently incorporated into the Royal Collection at the Japanese Palace.