Bonhams to Offer Rare Meissen Chocolate Cup from Swan Service, Estimated at £25,000–35,000
The Facts
Bonhams will present a single-owner ceramics sale featuring an extremely rare Meissen chocolate cup and saucer from the Swan service, estimated at £25,000–35,000. The service was originally ordered in 1736 by Heinrich Graf von Brühl, the most powerful man in Dresden during the mid-18th century, and comprised over 2,200 pieces. Approximately 50 percent of the service was destroyed or stolen by the Red Army after World War II, with many pieces used as target practice. The sale also includes eight objects from the 'Half figure service,' arguably the rarest chinoiserie decoration on Meissen porcelain, estimated at £500,000–700,000. Sebastian Kuhn, Bonhams Director of European porcelain, described the collection as 'one of the most valuable collections of Meissen porcelain in the world.'
The Signal
The Swan service's near-total destruction in the postwar period makes surviving pieces exceptionally rare and desirable among collectors. The chocolate cup and saucer exemplify the intricate moulding that characterized Meissen's shift from painted to sculptural decoration in the mid-18th century, with motifs of swans, storks, and reeds. The sale underscores sustained demand for historically significant European porcelain with dramatic provenance, particularly pieces tied to aristocratic courts and wartime loss.
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- Artists: Johann Joachim Kaendler
- People: Heinrich Graf von Brühl, Sebastian Kuhn, Augustus the Strong
- Auction Houses: Bonhams
- Museums: Japanese Palace (Dresden)
- Locations: London
- Prices: £25,000–35,000, £500,000–700,000
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