Meissen set of thirteen plates

Circa 1767-69

Diameter: 8 3/4 in. (22 cm.)

Marks: crossed swords with dot

These plates come from an extraordinary dinner service first commissioned by Augustus the Strong (1670–1733). Augustus the Strong owed a Chinese porcelain service of this pattern in the 1720s, of which a few plates remain today in the collection of the Porzellansammlung in Dresden. Augustus the Strong commissioned the Meissen factory to create a copy, and one trial plate dating to the early 1730s remains in the collection in Dresden. The death of Augustus the Strong ended the commission and it was never realized. 

In 1767, a Franconian aristocratic family who also owned a Chinese dinner service of this pattern again commissioned a copy to be made at Meissen, and it was created between 1767 and 1769. In addition to these 13 plates, 50 other plates are known as well as three larger dishes and a 30-person cutlery service in silver-gilt with porcelain handles—all of which remained with the family of the original owners until 2004.