Meissen
- The Fire Vase
Royal Porcelain Manufacturing Co.
Meissen, Germany
Master Sculptor Jottann Kaendler
I do not know when this vase was made. I can only
quote from the following books on Meissen Porcelain.
The Fire Vase is described in the book Meissen Porcelain by
Otto Walcha, "In the
year 1733 Jottann Joachim Kaendler was
promoted to Master Sculptor at the Royal Porcelain Mfg.
Company." Meissen Porcelain factory. "The vases
of the
elements were
designed by Kaendler as a gift from
Augustus III to
the French Court.
The Allegories of the Fire, Water, Air and Earth were
designed
in an artful mixture of low and high relief. To suit
the bulging shape of these
massive pieces, Kaendler was attempting to go beyond the limits of the materials possibilities. These costly
pieces were not intended for
any kind of use but were valued as pure show pieces for the staterooms.
In the book, Meissen China an Illustrated History by
Dr. K. Berling says, "The Fire Vase was
Kaendlers work about 1738."
I assume there was a chain from the arm to the leg of the
slave on the bottom front of the vase. It was not there when I first
acquired the piece. There is no top on this vase.
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