(1818)
The Saxon Service was made in Dresden and presented to the Duke of Wellington after the Battle of Waterloo by the King of Saxony, Frederick I. The service features of series of pictorial plates that show scenes from the Duke of Wellington’s life.
This plate is of particular interest as it shows the Apsley House as originally designed by Robert Adam in the 1770s. The house was red brick (although it appears yellow here) with a simple, classically designed portico.
The area around the house is shown as if it was set in a country park rather than London. The road hardly exists and there are paths designed for horse riding which lead neatly into Hyde Park.
The house was built for the Lord Chancellor, Henry, 1st Lord Apsley (later 2nd Earl of Bathurst) by the most fashionable architect of the day, Robert Adam.
The plate is hand painted with gilded borders, the main border, like all the dessert plates of the service is decorated with a laurel leaf.
The Meissen factory near Dresden produced some of the most outstanding examples of European porcelain. The famous crossed swords logo is one of the oldest trademarks known. The Meissen factory exists today and continues to manufacture porcelain.