Twelve Meissen Red Dragon Porcelain Plates

Germany, mid-20th century, hand-painted and gilt porcelain dinner plates, all with faulty ware quality mark through blue crossed swords mark to underside.

1 1/2 x 10 in. diameter

Private Collection, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The "Red Dragon", known today as the "Red Court Dragon" or "Ornate Dragon", was one of the early Oriental Paintings around 1730. The inspiration was found in Japanese porcelain, enriched with numerous symbols of East Asian culture and initially applied to tableware. While the first version with the iron-red dragon and golden details was intended exclusively for the Saxon court, different colored versions of the decoration in black, blue, yellow, green, purple and violet were also produced for the public from 1858 onwards. It was only with the shifts in political power around 1918 that this exclusivity was completely lifted and the decoration was made available to all lovers of Meissen craftsmanship in the iconic red.

Information courtesy of Meissen website.

Two with chips to foot rim; a few with small nicks to foot rim; a few with light surface marks and gilt rubbing.