Notes:
Although this popular Meissen design is referred to as the ‘bee pattern’ (bienenmuster), neither insects nor flowers bear a strong resemblance to any known species. Instead, the pattern was developed at the Meissen factory in Saxony by Johann Gregorius Höroldt (1696-1775), who was inspired by Japanese ceramic design and Indian textiles. Indian textiles were a key element of the global trade of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and floral designs were a favourite theme of the Mughal emperors who ruled the Indian subcontinent at the time. At first, Mughal court painting depicted floral motifs naturalistically, but under the rule of Shah Jahan (1628-1658), more stylised depictions were favoured and came to dominate Mughal cottons and, consequently, European ceramic design. For a similar example see Pietsche, U., 2011 ‘Early Meissen Porcelain: The Wark Collection from the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens’, p.250
See also: Hoffmeister 1999, I, no. 143