‘In the middle of the Table was [a] Fountain … ‘


Furniture, Textiles & Fashion
July 10, 2014

Over the past three days, visitors to the Museum have had the opportunity to have a sneak preview of one of Museum’s great hidden treasures which will be going into the new Europe Galleries.

Onlookers in the Raphael Court © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Onlookers in the Raphael Court © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Technicians, conservators and ceramics curators have been working in the Raphael Court, assembling the many parts of our impressive Meissen ceramic table fountain. This moment has been the culmination of hundreds of hours of work by numerous individuals.

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The assembled fountain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Curators and technicians discussing the structure of the fountain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Curators and technicians discussing the structure of the fountain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

A table fountain is exactly what its name suggests – a fountain that would have been displayed on a table, as part of an elaborate decorative dining arrangement. This porcelain table fountain would need to have been on a particularly large table, as it is at least 4 metres wide! Its great size is one of the reasons why we have had to make use of the Raphael Court to undertake this first complete assemblage of it – we needed to have plenty of room to move around the structure and also to erect lighting for it to be professionally photographed for an upcoming publication.

Jaron, the photographer, checking the shots he has taken so far © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Jaron, the photographer, checking the shots he has taken so far © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The fountain was originally made for Count von Brühl, Prime Minister of Saxony. It was notably used as the centrepiece of the desert-course during a royal wedding celebration banquet in Dresden in 1747.

In a letter from 1748, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams’ described seeing a similar fountain in operation:

‘I was once at a Dinner where we sat down at one table two hundred and six People … When the dessert was set on, I thought it was the most wonderful thing I ever beheld. I fancyd myself either in a Garden or at the Opera, But I [could] not imagine that I was at Dinner. In the middle of the Table was [a] Fountain … , which ran all the while with Rose-water, and ‘tis said that this Piece alone cost six thousand Thalers.’

Its design was based on that of a sculptural fountain in the grounds of von Brühl’s Dresden palace, which had been the work of the architect Zacharias  Longuelune (b. Paris 1669, d. Dresden 1748) and the sculptor  Lorenzo Mattielli (b. Vicenza, d. Dresden 1748).

The Fountain of Neptune, Dresden © Sissume
The Fountain of Neptune as it stands today, Dresden © Sissume
The Fountain of Neptune, Dresden
The centrepiece of The Fountain of Neptune, Dresden

The porcelain fountain was originally modelled in 1745-6 by Meissen’s chief modeller J.J.  Kaendler, with help from his assistants for Count Heinrich von Brühl, who was then Director of the Meissen factory. Some parts of the fountain were later replaced in around 1775. The Museum bought the fountain at auction in 1870, together with white porcelain parts from other sculptural Meissen works. The fountain was fragmentary and incomplete when acquired and was described as:

‘FOUNTAIN. Dresden porcelain, comprising centre group of Neptune, with other groups of marine figures and monsters, vases &c. (Much shattered.). German. 18th Centy.’

‘Much shattered’ was a very accurate description, as you can see from the size and state of some of the pieces below.

The fountain was fragmentary and incomplete when acquired by the Museum © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

 

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

 

A previous display arrangement of some pieces from the fountain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
A previous arrangement of some key pieces of the fountain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Recent research has enabled us to establish how the fountain was originally assembled. Working in collaboration with the Royal College of Art in London, we have been able to recreate missing parts in porcelain. Being able to visit the conservation studios to see this work in progress has been a real treat.

Reino, Senior Curator of Ceramics and Glass, talks us through the initial plotting of the position of the different pieces © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Reino, Senior Curator of Ceramics and Glass, talking us through the initial plotting of the pieces. On the wall you can see a photograph of von Brühl’s fullsize fountain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The support to hold the central basin is missing and so here they are using a temporary wooden stand-in © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The back support for the central basin is missing so here they are using a temporary wooden stand-in before a new ceramic replica is created © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Over the past few days, the whole ensemble has been put together for the first time in 150 years.

Clear plans were essential to ensure all the pieces were correctly positioned © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clear plans were essential to ensure all the pieces were correctly positioned © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Together again! © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The central basin © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

This was an invaluable opportunity to test out the bespoke mounts that will join the porcelain pieces together safely and securely when displayed in the galleries.

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The back of the fountain. In the background you can see just one of the many crates required to bring all of the pieces to the Raphael Court © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The central mount used to secure the fountain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The central mount fixings used to secure the fountain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
If you look very closely you can just make out some of the clips and supports used to hold the pieces together © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The fountain is being dismantled today before being permanently installed in the new galleries, opening in early 2015.

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
A last view of the fountain before 2015 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

About the author


Furniture, Textiles & Fashion
July 10, 2014

I am an Assistant Curator working on the development of the new Europe 1600-1800 Galleries. My interests are wide-ranging but subjects I have particularly enjoyed exploring for this project include:...

More from Dawn Hoskin
2 comments so far, view or add yours

Comments

Hi Dawn! Our tour is on Wednesday, we’re still preparing arrgh :) :) !! We are thinking about what we would include in a guest post… So interested in getting involved with LGBTQ group if anything I’d identify as A, but anyway, happy Valentine’s day! I’m doing this wonderful Table Fountain on our family tour…

Hi Simon,
Good luck with the tour on Wednesday! I hope your prep is all coming together (and that you’re all still looking forward to it!). The fountain really is a star object and it was such an interesting project to prepare it for display, so a good choice in my eyes. Unfortunately I have lots of meetings on Wednesday so not sure if I will be able to make it along – I will definitely try though!
All the best
Dawn

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