Gold, Jasper, and Carnelian:
Johann Christian Neuber at the Saxon Court
May 30 through August 19, 2012
Repnin Bases | Next >>
The exhibition also includes two bases designed
and crafted by Johann Christian Neuber for
the display of Meissen porcelain groups. These
bases were part of a much larger diplomatic gift
from Friedrich Augustus III to Prince Nikolai
Wasilyevitch Repnin (1732–1801), the Russian
emissary at the Treaty of Teschen and Baron
de Breteuil's counterpart.
Of equal value to the
Breteuil Table, the gift originally included a
Meissen porcelain service of several hundred pieces
and a large centerpiece composed of seven bases
of varying heights, each supporting an allegorical
group made at the Royal Porcelain Manufactory
of Meissen. Of the seven bases, only these two
have been identified. Although the Meissen groups
and service offered to Repnin are now lost, two
groups made at the same time and from the same
molds remained in Dresden, allowing a partial
reconstruction of Repnin's exceptional centerpiece.
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Repnin Base
From the Centerpiece presented by Friedrich Augustus III,
Elector of Saxony, to Nikolai Wasilyevitch Repnin
Dresden, 1780
Gilt bronze, amethyst, agate, jasper, petrified wood,
carnelian, and marble
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
"Russia's Flourishing Trade"
Michel Victor Acier at the Royal Porcelain Manufactory of Meissen
Made at the same time and from the same mold as the group presented by Friedrich Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, to Nikolai Wasilyevitch Repnin
Meissen, 1780
Hard-paste porcelain
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Porzellansammlung |
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Repnin Base
From the Centerpiece presented by Friedrich Augustus III,
Elector of Saxony, to Nikolai Wasilyevitch Repnin
Dresden, 1780
Gilt bronze, amethyst, agate, jasper, petrified wood,
carnelian, and marble
Private collection
"The History of Saxony"
Michel Victor Acier at the Royal Porcelain Manufactory of Meissen
Made at the same time and from the same mold as the group presented by Friedrich Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, to Nikolai Wasilyevitch Repnin
Meissen, 1780
Hard-paste porcelain
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Porzellansammlung |
The exhibition is co-organized by the Grünes Gewölbe of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Galerie J. Kugel, Paris, and The Frick Collection. Support for the presentation in New York is generously provided by Walter and Vera Eberstadt, Aso O. Tavitian, Margot and Jerry Bogert, and an anonymous donor. |
