porcelain, wooden case covered with Morocco leather, embossed gilt rims and 2 hooks, interior lined with light silk and gilt twine, height 7 cm, width 18 cm, depth 17.5 cm, traces of wear, porcelain plaquette slightly chipped to 4 edges, Vienna, Imperial Manufactory, 1803–1810 (Ru)

Square case with 4 removable layers,

1st layer, plaquette with burnished and matt gilt edges, Leithner blue ground with gilt-painted corner motifs, inscribed in an oval medallion in black lettering on a white ground the polychrome plate of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, Vienna, “erzeugt durch Joseph Leithner Arcanisten und Mahlerey Vorsteher” [executed by Joseph Leithner, arcanist and director of painting], 6.5 x 9 cm;

2nd layer, 6 plaquettes with burnished and matt gilt edges, 7 x 4.5 cm, plaquette no. 7 with a depiction of putti in a laboratory painted en grisaille, circa 1810; plaquette no. 8 depicting a finely painted, polychrome floral bouquet in a gold vase standing on a marble slab, signed lower right Parmann fec., plaquette no. 9 depicting a polychrome-painted marine landscape, palace and mountains, plaquette no. 10 depicting burnished gilt-painted leaf tendrils and décor on a matt gilt ground, an oval white medallion with a light burnished and matt gilt-painted centrepiece, plaquette no. 11 has a platinum ground with an Italian landscape painted en grisaille set within an oval medallion, in the background Vesuvius emitting smoke; plaquette no. 12 with a chamois-coloured, polychrome ground, platinum lustre edges, undulating bands with leafs, flowers and lozenges, oval white medallion with centrepiece in the same colours,

3rd layer, 6 plaquettes with polychrome stripes, 7 x 4.5 cm, A no. 1 numbered 1–18, B no. 2 numbered 10–36, C, no. 3 numbered 1–18, D no. 4 numbered 10–36, E no. 5 numbered 1–14, F no. 6 numbered 15–25 4th

layer, 6 plaquettes with polychrome bands, 7 x 4.5 cm, numbered 19–36.

Lit. on 1st layer: W. Mrazek, W. Neuwirth, Wiener Porzellan 1718–1864, MAK Wien 1970, p. 42: Josef Leithner, 1770–1829 at the Manufactory, student at the Viennese Academy, from 1770 flower painter, 1785–1787 chief painter at the Manufactory, after 1797 arcanist, discovering Leithner blue in 1792, Leithner gilt in 1793, on 30 December 1812 he was awarded the gilt ‘Medailie mit Öhr und band’, celebrated his 54th year of service in 1824, in 1829 appointed to take over the directorship by the board of directors;
lit. on 2nd layer: W. Mrazek, W. Neuwirth, Wiener Porzellan 1718–1864, MAK Wien 1970, p. 44, Leopold Parmann, d. Vienna 16 September 1816, design and flower painter no. 103, between 1783 and 1816 at the Manufactory, from 1784 entrusted with particularly fine design painting, 1799 noted as one of the most skilled workers, from 31 January 1803 chief painter and director of the flower painting class as successor to Drechsler;
lit.: W. Neuwirth, Porzellanmaler-Lexikon, vol. II, 1840–1914, p. 124, in 1816, on the death of Parmann, Josef Nigg was appointed to oversee the flower painting class.
Lit.: Thieme-Becker, vol. 26, p. 248; in 1828 he produced a flower painting for the Viceroy of Egypt; his signature can be found on 2 model plaquettes, one dated 1810, held by MAK Wien, the second in a little box in the former Figdor collection in Vienna; works in porcelain by him have featured in many exhibitions and auction, and were published in, Alt-Wiener Porzellan, Vienna 1904, Folnesics and Braun 1907, Slg. Lanna- Prag 1909, Karl Mayer 1914, Richard Ernst 1925, Karl Mayer 1928, Slg. Auersperg 1929;
lit.: Folnesics-Braun, Vienna 1907, p. 41, illustration of Putti in a laboratory, p. 156, illustration Flower vase, signed Parmann fec.; pp. 101–102, ... The Sèvres and Berlin manufactories were envious of Vienna’s pigment arcanists, Leithner being accorded particularly high esteem in professional circles. Little boxes with pretty ornamentation showcasing pigments and designs were produced to exhibit the finely nuanced Viennese spectrum of colours ... A model box of this kind is owned by Dr A. Figdor, Vienna.
Lit.: A. Ahrens, C. Lehner-Jobst, Augartenmuseum, Wiener Porzellan 1718–1744, Vienna 2011, case with model plaquettes, k. M., Vienna, circa 1813, on loan to the Technisches Museum, Vienna;
lit.: S. Wittwer, Raffinesse & Eleganz, ed. Richard Baron Cohen, Munich 2007, p. 130, ill. 132, drawers from a case with polychrome model plaquettes from the Viennese Manufactory circa 1810–1820; ill. 133, Georg Frick, model plaquettes in various colours, KPM–Berlin 1834–1842; p. 128, Georg Frick, model plaquettes with various glazes, grounds and matt colours, KPM, Berlin 1835–1846;