Overall height: 12.3cm (5.2in)
Berlin ironware. Standing figure wearing Life Guards uniform, sash and breast badge of the Royal Prussian Order of the Black Eagle, a tricorne, or dreispitz hat, his gauntletted right hand resting on a cane or krückstock. Mounted on a stepped panel square plinth and black marble base.
The present figure is illustrated 'Eisen statt Gold, (Iron instead of Gold), the 1982 catalogue ‘Prussian cast iron art from the Charlottenburg Palace, The Berlin Museum and other collections’. It is a product of the Royal Berlin Factory, the Königliche Eisengießerei, established in 1804 which produced range of decorative objects that included small statues and figurines, as well as architectural features such as the iron bridge in Berlin's Charlottenburg Park. When Napoleon invaded in 1806 the means of production along with much else of economic value were stripped from the Royal factory and shipped to France, sparking a fashion for ‘Fer de Berlin’ that spread throughout Napoleon’s occupied territories. Meanwhile in Prussia members of the nobility sold their gold and silver jewellery to fund the German resistance movement and wore in its place iron jewellery, often inscribed with such phrases as ‘Gold gab ich für Eisen’ (I gave gold for iron) and 'Eingetauscht zum Wohle des Vaterlandes’ (Exchanged for the welfare of the Fatherland).
Read more
Frederick the Great (1712-1768) was one of the finest generals of the 18th century, and one of the most enlightened monarchs of his age, who transformed his country from a barren backwater into a powerful major European state. Nearly all 19th century German historians praised Frederick’s leadership, administrative efficiency, devotion to duty and success in building up Prussia. He remained an inspiring figure with his ability to snatch victory from defeat during the First World War and later when the Second World War turned against Germany. However associations with him were badly tainted when it was learned that Hitler had a portrait of Frederick in his bunker and spoke to it in the final weeks of the Third Reich.
In his youth Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than the military obsessions of his his overbearing father. Frederick even tried to run away to England but was thwarted in the attempt and forced to watch the execution of his accomplice. Nonetheless, upon ascending the throne he began the series of wars mainly with Austria by which extended his realm. He soon emerged as an influential military theorist whose analysis was drawn from his extensive personal battlefield experience. Considering himself ‘the first servant of the state’, Frederick was a proponent of enlightened absolutism. He abolished torture, promoted religious tolerance in some degree, modernized the Prussian tax system, judiciary and civil service.
In the late 1740s Frederick began building his extravagant summer palace Sansoucci in Potsdam, near Berlin. It provided a haven for intellectuals from all over Europe and was given over to the enjoyment of the arts and the exploration of the latest trends in Enlightenment thinking. He welcomed Voltaire to his circle in 1750. Voltaire was then the most famous intellectual in Europe and was both loved and loathed for his stinging attacks on power and his rallying cry for religious freedom and rational thought. The French king Louis XV, contemptuous toward the Enlightenment thinkers, was said to have declared on Voltaire’s arrival at Sansoucci: “One more madman in the Prussian court and one less in mine.”