An Early 18th Century Meissen Beaker and Saucer with Dutch Decorated Kakiemon Style Enamels, the Meissen Porcelain c.1715-1720, the Dutch Enamels in the Kakiemon Style c.1720-1730. The enamel palette employed on this early Meissen porcelain beaker and saucer is rather close to the Japanese Kakiemon original, it is perhaps more closely aligned to the painting and palette of the Meissen factory. These overglazed enamels were not used at Meissen in the period of 1715 to 1720. However, the enamels closely resemble those found on Chinese export porcelain decorated in the Netherlands of the period c.1720-1730. The Japanese Hō-ō bird is type of auspicious phoenix and is similar to the Chinese Fenghuang. the Hō-ō appears only in peaceful and prosperous times (nesting, it is said, in paulownia trees), and hides itself when there is trouble. As the herald of a new age, the Hō-ō descends from heaven to earth to do good deeds, and then it returns to its celestial abode to await a new era. It is both a symbol of peace (when the bird appears) and a symbol of disharmony (when the bird disappears). The Hō-ō Bird appears frequently in Japanese porcelain of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, especially in Kakiemon wares. Ho-Ho is often used when referring to English porcelain versions of these Kakiemon designs. This early Meissen beaker and saucer has a very feint yellow-green tinge to the glaze, it doesn't have the brilliant white look of slightly later Meissen porcelain. For a closely related teabowl and saucer click on the link to the Victoria & Albert Museum website  Meissen tea bowl and saucer   The Rudolphe Lamaire Plot : Meissen porcelain painted in the Netherlands... "may have been part of an infamous scheme to dupe wealthy clients into buying imitations of Japanese porcelains which were very expensive and only imported in small numbers. The plot centred on a French merchant named Lemaire who was spurred on by the demand for Kakiemon porcelain in Paris. He purchased undecorated Meissen porcelain from the factory warehouse in Dresden in 1728-29, and sent it to be decorated in Holland 'in the taste of old Japan'. He chose Dutch decorators as they were skilled at working on plain white Chinese porcelains and, of course, on their own homegrown earthenwares made in Delft. He arranged for the Meissen pieces he bought not to have the usual underglaze crossed sword marks applied to their bases, or to have the mark applied overglaze so that it could easily be ground off. Luckily the plot was discovered in 1731, by which time the Meissen factory was catering to the fashion for exotic porcelain by decorating its own wares with convincing Japanese designs, copied from authentic Japanese pieces in the Saxon royal collection." (From the Victoria & Albert Museum website)."     New Research : I am much indebted to Dr.Nicholas Zumbulyadis the new information regards related pieces with the blue enamel cross-swords mark. I find this research really fascinating, to get an entirely new perspective is of course enlightening but also very exciting. Science is leading the way with understanding enamel decoration Note that in the September 30, 1729 agreement between Lemaire and the Meissen Manufactory Lemaire agreed not to have the white ware decorated outside the manufactory (Weber essay p.43 (pdf p. 3) r.h.s. bottom).  The reference to Dr.Nicholas Zumbulyadis Archaeometry paper where we published the XRF study is:     See Below For More Photographs and Information.