Royal: A German Silver-Gilt Four Piece Tea and Coffee Service, Probably Dresden, Circa 1780

comprising: teapot, coffee pot, creamer, and covered sugar bowl, the bases with chased acanthus leaves and beaded borders, the bodies with acanthus sleeves and pinned scrolling foliage, the pots with wood handles, stamped with crowned FA monogram and engraved with monograms, apparently unmarked, possibly by the Schrödel family

97 oz; 2923 g

height of the taller pot 9 1/2 in.; 24 cm

Provenance
Friedrich August III, (1750-1827) Elector of Saxony, who became Friedrich August I, King of Saxony in 1806

Literature

Friedrich August Freiherr von O'Byrn, Die Hof-Silberkammer und de Hof-Kellerei zu Dresden, Dresden, 1880. p. 147

Ulli Arnold, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Grünes Gewölbe, Dresdner Hofsilber des 18. Jahrhunderts (PATRIMONIA 74), Berlin/Dresden, 1994, pp.40, 43, 75

Catalogue note
During the 7-years war (1756-63) Saxony borrowed against its store of silver which had been sent in 48 chests, for safekeeping to Warsaw. Much of the silver was melted as a result, and it was not until two years after the death of Elector Friedrich Augustus II in 1765 during the minority of his grandson Friedrich August III that new orders were planned. These orders, which were given impetus by the latter's marriage in 1769 to Amalie Auguste of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, were awarded to the Dresden silversmith Carl David Schrödel (1712-73). Subsequent orders were fulfilled by his widow and his twin sons Carl Christian and Friedrich Christian, who had the same dates 1745-1810.

In the inventories of the Saxon court mention is made of silver services 'mit FA im Schilde gezeichnet' (drawn in a shield) to be distinguished from another white silver service of the same period described as FA und Churhuth, which is without the shield. (See: Sotheby's, Zurich, The Distinguished Collection of a Lady, Zurich 1997 lots 329 and 331).