A rare Meissen porcelain Kakiemon octagonal small bowl from The Japanese Palace, circa 1730

The Royal Collections of Saxony, Japanese Palace, Dresden;

Anonymous sale, Bonhams, London, 14 May 2008, lot 53;

Acquired at the above sale.

Porcelains of this type, largely derived from Japanese Kakiemon prototypes in the Japanese Palace collection of Augustus the Strong and distinguished by crossed swords marks painted in blue enamel rather than underglaze-blue, formed part of a substantial order negotiated around 1729–30 between the director of the Meissen manufactory, Count Hoym, and the Paris marchand-mercier Rudolph Lemaire. The wares were intended for the French market, where they were to be offered as highly sought-after Japanese originals. The enterprise was short-lived: royal suspicion surrounding the arrangement led to Hoym’s fall from favour and subsequent exile, while Lemaire was arrested and ultimately expelled. The porcelains remaining in Hoym’s Dresden residence were confiscated by royal order and absorbed into the Saxon Royal Collection, at which point they were assigned inventory numbers for the Japanese Palace. A comprehensive explanation and discussion of the entire Hoym-Lemaire affair is provided by Julia Weber, in a paper presented at the International Ceramics Fair and Seminar, London, 16 June 2012, 'A detective story: Meissen porcelains copying East Asian models. Fakes or originals in their own right?' and published the following year in the Fair's Catalogue, pp. 41-49.

The 1770 inventory of the Japanese Palace lists: "Zwey und Zwanzig Stück 8.eckichte Zucker-Schälgen, mit etwas überschlagenen Rande, und bunten Blumen gemahlt..", [22 pieces 8-sided sugar bowls, with slightly everted rims, and painted with coloured flowers], Claus Boltz, ‘Japanisches Palais- Inventar 1770 und Turmzimmer- Inventar 1769’, Keramos, no. 153, 1996, p. 58. A further octagonal dish of this design, bearing the same Japanese Palace number sold at Bonhams, London, 23 May 2012, lot 87.