19TH CENTURY, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARKS, INCISED MODEL NOS. 1065 TO WINTER AND 1179 TO FALL, BOTH WITH INCISED 50

This rare ensemble of monumental Meissen vases is one of two sets of four known. The present vases were formerly displayed by Robert and Barbara Safford at Vaux Hill Manor, a palatial historic neoclassic home outside Philadelphia. Originally built in 1843 on the Northern Bank of the Schuykill River by the noted architect John Haviland, the Safford family passionately renovated and refurbished the manor at the end of the 20th century.  Vaux Hill stands on a strategic site near Valley Forge, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington stayed at the manor which stood on this site; later James Audubon met his future wife at the Vaux Hill and wandered its extensive gardens.

Three single Meissen vases of this stature are also known, including two examples emblematic of Spring and one emblematic of Summer. It is interesting to note that these three and the other set of four, held in a private American collection, all exhibit variations in the placement muses, the formation of the covers and the applied decoration.