88. A pair of Meissen plates from the Swan Service, circa 1740 Modelled by J.J. Kaendler in low relief with swans swimming among bulrushes and a crane to the left with another in flight overhead, all on a shell-moulded ground, the rim painted with the arms of Brühl/Kolowrat-Krakowska, three flower sprigs and further scattered blooms, the rim with a gilt border, 23.3cm, crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue to both, (2) The Swan Service was ordered in 1736 for the director of the Meissen manufactory, Heinrich Graf von Brühl (1700-1763). A manufactory report of May 1736 states that: "Ein neues Taffel Servis vor des H. Geh. Cabinet Minister von Brühl Excellenz von ganz neuer Façon verlanget worden sei [a new table service was ordered for His Excellency the Privy Cabinet Minister von Brühl of entirely new design]." The pieces are painted with the marriage arms of Brühl and his wife, Maria Anna Franziska von Kolowrat-Krakowska (1712-1762), who married in April 1734. For the origins and development of the service, see M. Kunze-Köllensperger, "Neues zum Schwanenservice: Relief-Probeteller-Wappen," in Keramos 241/242 (2018), pp. 53-70. The service originally comprised over 2,200 pieces, of which many remained in the family's possession until the Second World War. From around 1880, pieces were lent to museums in Dresden and Berlin or passed to private collectors, so that by 1900 only 1,400 pieces remained at the family's Silesian seat, Schloss Pförten. These remaining pieces were either destroyed along with the castle, or looted, at the end of the Second World War.