LONDON.- A large and rare Dutch Delft garden urn made for King William III at the end of the 17th century has been purchased by the Dutch Royal Palace Het Loo.

Unmarked but most likely made by the Griekse A, one of the most important Dutch Delft workshops, there are only three other known examples of complete garden urns of a similar size and decorated with a Royal monogram.

Mary, daughter of James II, married her Dutch cousin, William III, Prince of Orange in 1677. Making her new home in the Dutch Republic, Mary developed a deep love for her adopted country and its products, especially ceramics. Written inventories and also excavated shards found at both the Dutch royal palace of Het Loo and Hampton Court, the Royal Residence of the couple from 1689, show how deep the taste for Dutch Delftware influenced the interior decoration at both these residences.

Suzanne Lambooy, curator of ceramics and glass at the Palace, said: “These kinds of vases are exceedingly rare. We are delighted to have acquired this piece. It now enables us to tell the story of Royal Dutch Delftware commissioned by William III”.

An extremely rare Meissen teapot, formerly in the renowned von Klemperer Collection of Meissen porcelain, produced a thrilling result by more than doubling its top pre-sale estimate to achieve £128,500 including premium. The majority of items in the von Klemperer Collection were lost or damaged during World War II, first being confiscated by the Nazis, then suffering direct hits during the bombing of Dresden. Bonhams already sold a large amount of damaged porcelain from the Klemperer estate in a white-glove sale in 2010.

A rare Meissen figure of Harlequin with a monkey made twice its pre-sale estimate, selling for £80,500. This piece was once the property of Emma Budge, a wealthy German collector who, by the First World War, had gathered together one of the most important collections of decorative arts in private hands. Her collection was appropriated by the Nazis in the late 1930s, and scattered around the world. This very piece was recently restituted to Budge’s heirs by the Victoria & Albert Museum, where it had been on view since 1984.

Also selling strongly was a large oval tray, circa 1742, from the Meissen factory’s famed Swan Service, one of three pieces from this world-famous sale. It achieved £72,000.