Grapevine Vase

This is a superb vase made by Meissen around 1730. It is decorated with applied grapevines attached to the main body of the vase. Imagine all the work it took to just do that. Then the grape vines are painted with superb detail that must have taken forever to accomplish. Every leaf has the veins painted on and some even have different colors to parts like yellow and purple. On either side there is a lady's head superbly painted in the typical Meissen manner. Great detail and ncie gilding. The top and bottom rim are gilded as well. The vase was definitely potted by hand as one can see the lines in the paste. The piece is rather large measuring 11 inches tall (plus or minus a bit as the top rim is a bit wavy which is typical in early pieces). It has a top diameter of just under 6 inches. Amazingly it is in very good condition. There is a chip to a stalk and a leaf neither of which is bad. An old repaired chip to the top rim which has come undone (but I just got it fixed properly) and then there are two large firing cracks in the base footring which were filled before the gilding was applied which was common for the early period of Meissen before these pieces were denoted as seconds. They were still in their infancy and practising a bit to get to perfection. Some chipping to the footring also quite old. The footring is a bit odd looking but was designed to hold an ormolu base which might have been here but is no longer present. Sadly the base has been drilled (which I know had filled to at least look better but it still won't be able to get used) so the vase could be used as a lamp. Vandals! But that was a common practise for a period. I have seen some other 18th century vases brutalized this way sold at Christies. The base is unmarked (might have been where the hole is with the AR Augustus Rex mark most likely but there are two impressed dots in the footring which is a known mark for a turner at Meissen named Kuettel of whom little is known except that he worked at Meissen early on. A rare an superb example of very early Meissen porcelain! Please email me for more information or other pictures.