A pair of porcelain flower vases with flared necks and tapering body, decorated with alternating panels of gilt foliage and grisaille vases of flowers on pink ground within gilt borders, detachable plinth base with gilt trellis and band borders.

By the time of her marriage in 1797 to Frederick, Hereditary Prince, Duke and - from 1806 - King of Württemberg, the Princess Royal was an experienced artist. In Germany she found a new outlet for her talents in the productions of the porcelain factory at the palace of Ludwigsburg, near Stuttgart. The factory had been founded by Duke Carl Eugene of Württemberg in 1758, following the example of many other German rulers (including the Elector of Mainz, the Duke of Brunswick and the King of Prussia). The palace had been started in the 1700s with the aim of creating a German Versailles, and additions were made by successive Dukes, most notably Carl Eugene. The Princess Royal supervised the redecoration of the interiors.

The factory supplied the Princess with porcelain blanks, which she would decorate and inscribe on the base with the date and her initials C.A.M. (Charlotte Augusta Matilda). The decorated pieces would then be fired in her own kiln, in the grounds of the palace. These vases are in two sections. The upper part has a hole in the base while the lower acts as a saucer or reservoir, enabling small bulbs or other plants to be kept growing. On each, the Princess painted two panels of classical vases filled with roses, tulips and other flowers, all in grey on a pink ground; the painted decoration is very close to that found in the Princess’s monochrome drawings of the 1790s. She also painted plates, and plaques to be mounted on furniture. In 1805 she had written to her father George III that she would ‘venture to bespeak some flower pots after my design which I hope your Majesty will place in your palace’.

Catalogue entry adapted from George III & Queen Charlotte: Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste, London, 2004