CHEVY CHASE, MD. — A pair of royal Naples porcelain soup tureens from the “Servizio della Duchessa di Parma” was the top lot of Sloans & Kenyon’s February 3-4 sale as the duo brought $35,850 including buyer’s premium. The tureens were the only two from the 106-piece service given by the Queen of Naples to her younger sister, the Duchess of Parma, in 1790.

According to the catalog description, “the service was ordered by the queen’s husband, Ferdinand IV, from his royal porcelain factory at Naples in 1788. And while it took two years to produce at a cost of just under 5,000 ducati, it marked a turning point in the factory’s output, initiating the third period of production (1788-1800) under the factory’s director Domenico Venuti, with the use of the factory’s ‘new porcelain,’ a soft porcelain obtained by mixing Roman and Venetian clays.”

The first day of the two-day sale was dedicated to the single owner collection of Washington D.C. Councilman Jim Graham. From that section, an Art Nouveau green pottery vase, 14 inches high and unmarked, though possibly by Wheatley, with a detailed dragonfly motif soared above its $300-400 estimate to bring $19,120, including the buyer’s premium. The second half of that collection will be offered March 10.

Watch for a full review in a future issue.