Octagonal dish, possibly a teapot stand, of unglazed red stoneware (Böttger stoneware), fully painted in enamels, made by the Meissen porcelain factory, Saxony, ca. 1711-1712.

Octagonal dish, possibly a teapot stand, of unglazed red stoneware (Böttger stoneware) painted in raised white and blue enamels with dense scrolling foliage, in the centre a prancing horse-like creature, the rim with stylised leaves and berries in blue, green and white within a blue line border, the base also with enamel decoration comprising an emblem of Love depicted as a pair of doves perched on a flaming heart within formal scrolls, the exterior rim with vignettes of animals in landscapes, including a stag, dog, fox and a bird.

Given by Mr A. Bathurst

A note on the Object Information file from Malcolm Gutter can be summarised as follows:
'I am certain the decoration on the Böttger stoneware dish is contemporary with the piece. I'm not sure if you are aware but there is a second example that was formerly in Dresden...now at the Schloss in Gotha. That said your dish was published in 1982 in the Willi Goder, etc. volume, Johann Friedrich Böttger, Die Erfindung Des Europäischen Porzellans (Kohlhammer, 1982), Pl. 118.
Significant is the following comment: 'Im Inventar von 1711 erwähnt...8 passige Schälichen, inwendig mit Blumenwerk' 'An 8-sided dish inside of which is flower-work'. Regarding the enamelling, it had to have been done in and around Dresden. It's possible, Funcke, because I believe he did some enamelling. But I'm not sure it fits his style of decoration. I have two other candidates: first it's possible that both dishes could have been done in the workshop of the court lacquerer Martin Schnell. There might have been an enameller in the workshop, along with the lacquerers. Second what about the workshop of the court enameller and jeweller Georg Friedrich Dinglinger? Another strong possibility is the court enameller Johann Martin Meyer, see the Goder volume above for coffee pots and a teapot in Dresden enamelled and set with garnets, pls. 113-115. I think it's a pretty good bet that if indeed he did these coffee and teapots, he would have been responsible for the two octagonal dishes.'

The Gotha dish is published in Dirk Syndram and Ulrike Weinhold (eds.), Böttger Stoneware: Johann Friedrich Böttger and Treasury Art (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, 2009, p. 46).

Before discovering the secret of making true porcelain at Meissen, the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger invented a type of fine red stoneware in imitation of imported Chinese red wares. This piece, with European-style enamelling in Baroque style, is particularly rare and unusual. The enamelling would have been applied outside the factory, possibly in the workshop of one of the court enamellers, whose work more usually occurs on precious metalwares.

C.366-1921