A rare Meissen Tea Caddy and Cover depicting Mining subjects, the rectangular form painted in the manner of Bonaventura Gottlieb Häuer with miners at various activities running continuously around all sides, the front showing two miners in their green caps sieving the minerals, the side panel with a miner carrying rock to a shaft, the reverse with an overseer at discussion with a miner, both standing before a fence, the other side with a further miner raking golden nuggets, all within a wooded rocky landscape beneath a gittermerk border, the arched shoulders with sprigs of European flowers, the cover with a seated miner smoking and holding his pick in one hand, with open flower finial and further gittermerk border.

Mark:
Crossed swords in underglaze blue to base. Häuer joined the Meissen factory in 1724 and by 1731 was painting figures in landscapes. His dark rocks to the foreground silhouetted against lighter landscapes behind is a particular sign of his work. Häuer is also the person associated with wares depicting miners. Minerals, coal and gold were a considerable source of revenue for Saxony and this therefore interested Augustus III massively. Augustus revered his miners greatly and lent his monogram as their badge on their uniforms.