Lot 5: Allegory of the Night, Johannes Schilling, Meissen, after 1870

The allegory of the night originated in the four-part daytime cycle, and was designed by Schilling in 1860 in the course of a competition for redesigning the Brühl Terrace in Dresden.

In the center of the depiction, Luna, the enthroned goddess of the Moon. Her head adorned with the crescent moon is draped by a grey veil. She is accompanied by Morpheus and Hypnos.

Condition:

The figure is in good condition. The crescent moon shows a blemish. The lower edge of the base is occasionally bumped. A fine horizontal hairline can be found on the rear of the seat. The dimensions of 36 x 27 x 23 cm.

Johannes Schilling (1828-1910)

Born in Mittweida in 1828, Johannes Schilling studied from 1842 to 1852 at the Academies in Dresden and Belin. In 1868, he was appointed professor at the Dresden Academy and taught there until 1910. His style is characterized by the strict lines of neo-classicism.

Porcelain Manufactory Meissen

Porcelain has been known in Europe since the 13th century, but always had to be imported from China. Thus it was mostly of lower quality – the Chinese rarely gave their best ware to the foreigners – and extremely expensive. As demand for porcelain became greater, European alchemists tried to discover the formula to create hard-paste porcelain. The production of the first European hard-paste porcelain was the result of a collaboration between the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger and the scientist Ehrenfried Walther Graf von Tschirnhaus at the court of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, in Dresden. As a matter of fact, it was finally achieved for the first time in Europe in 1708 to produce a white hard paste porcelain and in 1710 Augustus established Europe’s first hard-paste porcelain factory in the Albrechtsburg, a palace in Meissen. The so-called ‘Böttgerporzellan’ actually had more of a stoneware quality and it was not until the year 1713 that white porcelain was available for purchase. Initially unmarked, the motif of the ‘crossed swords’ was developed in the early 1720s and used from 1723 onwards. Since then, beautifully modelled and painted figures and table services were produced at Meissen, establishing its reputation as the pre-eminent porcelain factory in Europe. Outstanding potters, modelers and painters, e.g. Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775), Johann Gottlieb Klinger (1701-1781) and Count Camillo Marcolini (1739-1814), were employed at the factory, which dominated the 18th century style of porcelain, and Meissen wares and figurines were imitated by craftsmen at other porcelain factories throughout Europe. Meissen celebrated its 300 years of existence in 2008. Until today, Meissen porcelain is known for highest quality and originality and greatly appreciated. (bde)

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