Empress Maria Theresia Habsburg Imperial & Royal Porcelain Manufactory . Pair of Urns
19” tall, 10”wide, 4” inch depth. Habsburg family Bindenschild shield under glazed blue. Impressed molders & turners mark as well as decorators identification number under glaze and in gold..Circa 1744-1780.
Lady Harriet Augusta Canning wife of Bruce Vernon Wentworth bestowed these to my Grandmother in 1948 before the Wentworth Castle was sold to the Barnsley Corporation. Story is William Wentworth Earl of Stratford at Stainborough (1722-1791) while building the now Historic Wentworth Castle, went on the European “Grand Tour” collecting classical Antiquities. The Urns/Vases were part of the lavish decor for the next 2 centuries.
Inherited
Maybe
Hi Liam,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.
The Beehive mark has been in place for centuries; it's often difficult to tell just from the mark and you say that there are additional numbers (molders and turners etc) - can you take a photo of those and attach them here?The quality of the decoration appears to be more 19th century than 18th century as your family history would suggest. The sides of the vases are usually signed by the painter who decorated the scenes - do you notice any names?
Thanks very much,
Delia
Thanks, Liam,
The quality of the painted decoration on this pair of urns is still lower than what I would expect of workmanship from that period but given that I can't examine these in person with loupes, a black-light and other tools to help determine age, I will give these the benefit of the doubt and value as if 18th Century; keep in mind if a physical inspection determines these to be later that the value would be less.
Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:
A pair of Royal Vienna parcel gilt and painted "moon flask" two-handled covered urns
Vienna, 1744-1780
each with red and black painted covers with gilt highlights and two stylized horn-shaped handles, the body decorated with Classical revelers in a landscape, apparently unsigned, the underside of the foot with underglaze bindenschild (beehive) mark and #57.
each 19 inches tall, 10 inches wide, 4 inches deep
PROVENANCE: inherited; by family tradition, these descended in the family of William Wentworth Earl of Stratford at Stainborough (1722-1791) who acquired these for Wentworth Castle during a Grand Tour
$3,000-5,000 for the pair*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.
Thank you for your help. I appreciate the fact that they will require visual inspection for a comprehensive valuation. I live in Calgary Alberta Canada, what and or who would you recommend I get in touch with.
I am not familiar with any of the auction houses in your area; I would typically recommend an auction house with ceramics specialists who have handled extensively in both depth and breadth. In lieu of that, I would recommend that you contact the International Society of Appraisers and ask them for the name of a ceramics specialist in your area. www.isa-appraisers.org/
I’ve added some research on the Habsburg Bindenschild Shield mark that is on the bottom. I shall also take some more detailed photographs. As for signatures or additional descriptions there are none, which is actually a good thing ...since the Royal & Imperial Porcelain Manufactory of the Habsburgs didn’t sign nor write inscriptions on their work.