Large Porcelain Painting Plaque

This is another one of those very special once in a lifetime kind of piece. It is a plaque made by Nymphenburg around 1850. After researching it for a while I found the original oil painting to it, titled "The sulking couple" (Das schmollende Ehepaar) by Johann Peter Hasenclever of Germany. It was painted by him in 1839 and was then part of the royal collection of King Ludwig 1st of Bavaria (grandfather of the Ludwig that build Neuschwanstein aka the Disney castle inspiration). This later became part of the Neue Pinakothek, a museum in Munich, Germany but has since been sold. The King initiated the copies of the original oil paintings onto Nymphenburg porcelain and from 1835 the paintings were copied onto plaques. So this is very likely one of those plaques from the royal collection. There were some other ones made for rich clients but usually from paintings outside the collection. Any plaque by Nymphenburg is very rare but one of this size and quality is almost never seen outside of museums. The quality is so fine I had to look with a magnifying glass to see the brush strokes. So many fine details! The painting is of a gentleman smoking a pipe typical of this period while the lady is sitting at the other end of the table quite obviously mad at him. My daughters were discussing it and since she looks madder, it is the gentleman guilty of something (which is pretty much always the case). I figured he was out too late with his buddies :) The plaque is in great condition - the area you see is perfect. on the back side you see that the plaque was cut a bit before being painted. One each side and there is some chipping with that but it was made that way so is not considered real damage. The piece is framed with a matt of some sort of velvet like material in a burgundy type color with a fancy gold frame that is stunning. The frame has some minor corner issues but displays perfectly and looks amazing on the wall. What a piece! As special as it comes! Very heavy though so I am not super comfortable hanging it on the wall though it obviously has done so in the past. For now it will reside in my office :) The back of the piece is marked with some numbers as well as the impressed shield mark with a star above it. Used from 1850 until 1862 according to some books, in others a bit longer. The scene has an artist signature as shown though I cannot make it out. I read it as Steiner my dad as Sturm. No idea. The visible part of the plaque is 16.25 inches wide and 12.5 inches tall and about 0.375 inches thick. The piece with the frame is about 2.5 inches deep, 26.625 inches wide and 21.75 inches tall. A truly superb piece! Please e-mail me for more information or photos.