A MID 19TH CENTURY GERMAN PRESENTATION SILVER TEA SERVICE, PRESENTED BY AUGUSTUS VON OLDENBURG, GRAND DUKE OF OLDENBURG TO CLARA LASIUS, AS REWARD FOR SERVICES TO THE DUKE AS GOVERNESS OF HIS DAUGHTER, PRINCESS FRIEDERIKE VON OLDENBURG,

A MID 19TH CENTURY GERMAN PRESENTATION SILVER TEA SERVICE, PRESENTED BY AUGUSTUS VON OLDENBURG, GRAND DUKE OF OLDENBURG TO CLARA LASIUS, AS REWARD FOR SERVICES TO THE DUKE AS GOVERNESS OF HIS DAUGHTER, PRINCESS FRIEDERIKE VON OLDENBURG, PRESENTED FOLLOWING CLARA LASIUS’S RETIREMENT ON THE COMING OF AGE OF PRINCESS FRIEDERIKE IN 1840, comprising teapot, sugar bowl, milk jug, tea strainer, sugar tongs and twelve teaspoons, the sugar bowl fitted to hold the teaspoons when in use. All items except the sugar bowl and milk jug with maker’s mark “Muller” and fineness mark “12” (indicating .750 fine silver), and all items, except the sugar tongs, additionally engraved with “CL” monogram (for Clara Lasius), total weight 1,250 grams, the set contained in its original custom-made, green silk lined, brass mounted mahogany traveling “campaign” box, with fitted green baize line compartments to house each piece, and complete with original lock and key.

The tea service is accompanied by two original manuscript letters from Clara Lasius’s nephew, the German and Swiss architect Dr. Georg Lasius (Oldenburg 1835 – Zurich 1928), and his son in law Julius. Georg confirming in his letter that the tea service was presented to Clara Lasius by Augustus, Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Julius’s letter confirming that the tea service was a Lasius family heirloom, handed down through generations of the family.

1. The letter from Georg Lasius, 4 pages, addressed to his future daughter in law, also called Clara, dated “Zurich den 8 April 1899”, written in German, which reads as follows: “Liebe Clara. Anbei …ich Dir in meinem u meiner l. Frau Namen as …Geschenk ein Thee-Service…….Das Service war ein Geschenk des Grossherzogs Paul Fredr August von Oldenburg an meine Tante Clara Lasius, Schwester meines Vaters. Sie erhielt dies Geschenk als sie 1840 als Erzieherin der Herzogin Friederike v. Oldenburg die damals erwachsen war, zurucktrat. Bis den Jahre 1856 wurd das Service in Haushalte der Schwestern Mathilde u Elise Lasius viel gebraucht. Dann nach den Tode meiner Mutter zog Tante Clara zu meinem Vater ins Haus u bleib dort das Service in gebrauch bis mein Vater 1888 starb und ich es erbte. Es macht mir nun eine besondere Freude es vieder in die Hande einer Clara zu geben die in wenigen Tagen Clara Lasius heissen wird so dass die Bezeichnung CL die es tragt wieder passt. Meine Tanta Clara wurde 80 jahre alt, war as Erzicherin schon von ihren 18ten Jarhe an u war ziemlich weit in der Welt herein gekommen, 18 Jahre in Norddeutschland, 7 Jahre an Oldenburger Hoff, 6 Jahre in England, Frankreich u Greichenland, 11 Jahre in Schlesien in Hause des Fursten von Pless. Alle diese Bezichungen hat sie bis ins hohe Lebensalter festgehalten u war von allen ihren (…) sehr geehrt. Ich gebe Dir diese notizen … Dir dadurch das Geschenk als Erbstuck der Familia Lasius …..wir beide, meine liebe Frau und ich dir hiermit Gluck u Segen fur dein neues Heim”. The letter signed “Mit herzlichen Grusse, Dein Schweigervater G Lasius”.

1. The letter from Georg Lasius’s son in law, Julius, one page, dated Schloss Berg (Switzerland), 3rd January 1948, addressed to “Thea”, and also written in German, reads as follows: “Liebes Thea, in namen meiner Familia den dies (…..) angehort, in Einverstandniss mit meiner kindern Emilie und Gerold ubereige ich dir – liebe Thea – hiermit das aus den Besitz meiner lieben, verstorbenem Frau familien silber. Uber sein herkommen, sein bisheriges Schicksaal, erklart den beilegende brief meines lieben Vaters. ……..Dein Julius.”

Clara Lasius (1797-1877) was born into a prominent Oldenburg family, being the daughter of Georg Siegmund Otto Lasius (1752-1833), the Oldenburg mineralogist, geologist and engineer, and sister of the Oldenburg architect Otto Lasius (1797-1888).

Clara Lasius, during her career as a governess, in addition to being employed by the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, also traveled widely and was governess to a number of other prominent European families, including the Prince of Pless.

Clara’s father, Georg Siegmund Otto Lasius, first saw service with the Engineering Corps of the Electorate of Braunschweig-Luneberg in 1770, afterwards saw service in the Engineering Corps of the states of Hanover and Westphalia and ended his career in the service of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg from 1813 to his death in 1833. Georg Lasius was the author of the monumental, two volume “Observations on the Harz Mountains” along with numerous other treatises. His extensive collection of minerals and rock samples was purchased in 1821 by the Imperial Russian Institute in St Petersburg.

Dr Georg Lasius, the nephew of Clara Lasius and the author of the letter of provenance dated 8th April 1899, was the son of the Oldenburg architect Otto Lasius and grandson of the Oldenburg engineer Georg Siegmund Otto Lasius. Dr Georg Lasius worked extensively during his career as an architect in Germany, France and Switzerland and was awarded an honorary Doctorate by the University of Zurich in 1905.

August von Oldenburg, Grand Duke of Oldenburg (1783-1853, reigned 1829-1853), was a member of one of Europe’s most extensive regal dynasties, with branches that rule or have ruled Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Schleswig Holstein, as well as Oldenburg. During the 19th century, Queen Victoria, then head of state of the United Kingdom, also ruled over the British Empire, the population of which, some 400 million people, constituted 23% of the world’s population at that time. Previous employment in the service of the Grand Duke of Oldenburg and the dynastic connections between Oldenburg and the wider world enabling Clara to pursue her career as a governess in various countries and states in Europe. Princess Friederike von Oldenburg (1820 – 1891) married Maximilian Emanuel von Washington (1829-1903), the son of Jakob von Washington, a distant relative of the first president of the United States, George Washington. In later life Maximilian von Washington was a prominent member of Austrian society and was created Baron von Washington by the Emperor Franz Josef I. He and his family lived in Pols Castle, a large, historic medieval fortress dating from the mid-13th century, located at Dobl-Zwaring in Styria, purchased for the Von Washington family by Maximilian’s wife, the Princess Friederike.

George Washington’s great-grandfather, John Washington, a Royalist, fled to the Americas together with his brother Lawrence and a cousin, James Washington, following the Royalist defeat and the victory of Oliver Cromwell in the English civil war of 1646-1660, James Washington later left the American colonies and returned to Europe, eventually settling in Germany. Maximilian Emanuel von Washington’s father, Jacobus von Washington, a descendant of James Washington, was elevated by the Maximilian, Elector of Bavaria, to the position of hereditary knight as a reward for his services as a military adviser and by time he died in 1848 he had risen to the position of Grand Chamberlain and Commander-in-Chief of the Bavarian army.