Meissen, ca. 1725. The paintwork can be attributed to Johann Gregorius Höroldt.

Painted with the Italian family coat of arms da Lezze, a double-headed eagle in schwarzlot, in a crowned heraldic cartouche, etched in gold. The tea bowl with a matching coat of arms and a chinoiserie scene. The inside of the tea bowl with a rocky pagoda landscape, with an iron-red double-ring border. Rims with gold lace border.

H 4.5 cm, Ø 12.6 cm.

Small chip to the rim of the tea bowl and the saucer.

Provenance:
- Christie's Geneva, Important European Porcelain, 14 November 1988, Lot No. 134.
- The Giovanni & Gabriella Barilla Collection, Sotheby's London, 14 March 2012, Lot No. 105.
- Aristocratic private collection, Southern Germany.

The da Lezze family originally came from the Veneto. The dinner service was probably commissioned for a certain Andrea da Lezze, who was in Milan as Special Ambassador for Emperor Charles VI (M. Cassidy-Geiger, Fragile Diplomacy, 2007, p. 212).

The tea bowl on offer, together with four other items from the then still unknown service, was sold at Christie's in 1988, under Lot Nos. 131-135. An additional tea bowl from that auction came into the Hoffmeister Collection, Bonhams London, 26 November 2010, Lot No. 84; a teapot, a coffee pot and a tea bowl are nowadays in the Carabelli Collection (Pietsch 2000, Nos. 45-47).