A rare pair of Meissen ornithological plates, c.1755, one painted with a green woodpecker the other

A rare pair of Meissen ornithological plates, c.1755, one painted with a green woodpecker the other possibly a yellowhammer, perched on branches or flower stems with moths and insects around, the rims with continuous bands of flowers including rose, tulip, convolvulus and carnation, blue crossed swords marks, 24cm. (2)

A selection of 58 pieces of this service were sold at Christie's on 28th November 1977 (lots 88-119). These were previously in the collection of Paula de Koenigsberg, Buenos Aires, and exhibited there in 1947. A large portion of the service had been passed to the newspaper magnate, Randolph Hearst, by the German government during the 1930s. It is thought that the service had originally been made for Frederick the Great.