Lot 81 Dα

From 1837 onwards, King Friedrich Wilhelm III began presenting his godson Friedrich Franz (II.) von Mecklenburg-Schwerin with a set of six plates every Christmas. The resulting service grew considerably over the years until 1848 and eventually comprised 50 place settings. The pieces were decorated with views of Berlin and Potsdam, but also with reproductions of contemporary paintings, in this case the well-known oil painting by Louis Ammy Blanc, which exists in several versions. The first version was painted in 1834 and is now housed in the Landesgalerie Hannover whilst the second, dated version – painted in February 1837 – can be found in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn (inv. no. 67.268). The young lady in the painting can be identified as Gertraud Künzel, née Breitenbach, who was born in 1809 and died in 1834. She stands before a view of Cologne Cathedral, the unfinished state of which reflects her untimely death. Contemporary audiences were deeply touched by the work, and due to its popularity it was reproduced many times. Lempertz Berlin auctioned two other dessert plates from this rare and important service that were formerly housed in the Twinight Collection. These plates, painted with reproductions of works by Ludwig Heinrich Wittich, were sold on 7th November 2018 as lot 125.