Decorated with a pair of entwined cranes with a cricket in their beaks. Around the rim a garland with flowers and mussles. The rim of the cover and stand with a relief of lotusscroll. Diameter of tureen 23 cm. Diameter of dish 32 cm.
Crazing, cracks, discolouration. Cover repaired, dish with chip to reverse of rim.
Possibly comissioned for the wedding between Claes Grill (1705-1767) – and his cousin Anna Johanna Grill in 1737.
Claes Grill was one of the most powerful men in Sweden during the 18th Century. He was a director of the Swedish East-India Company, owner of Sweden’s leading merchant house Claes & Carolos Grill, their trade involved shipping, co-owner of a sail and linen manufactory, glassworks, shipyards, a bank and he owned a line of mines and estates. This theory is based on dating of the porcelain and the similarity with a Yongzheng mark and period pieces.
But there is also a possibility that the service was made for Adolph Ulric (1752-1797) som 1778 who marries his cousin Anna Johanna (III) (1753-1809), in 1778. If so it might be designed by Jean Eric Rehn.
The Grill family derives from a Dutch noble family and was not introduced in Sweden. They used the crane with a cricket in its beak as their coat of arms. The enlaced cranes on the service carries the thoughts to the alliance between the two members of the Grill family.