Online Auction: The Twinight Collection

The Twinight Collection was started in 1994 by businessman Richard Baron Cohen of Long Island, N.Y. Today, the collection, which initially consisted of a few plates purchased in Camden Passage in London, is recognised as a unique collection of rarities of the highest quality. The genuine love that Richard Baron Cohen has for porcelain and its craftsmanship is evident in his description of the beautiful collection. According to him, porcelain has a soul. Some of the collected porcelain was originally exchanged as gifts between princely courts. Some belonged to historical figures, while other pieces were produced as exquisite specimens in a never-ending competition between the leading porcelain manufactories around the world. The highlights of the Danish part of the collection include Flora Danica porcelain, some of it from the original service, as well as the most beautiful Art Nouveau vases and ornaments from Royal Copenhagen and Bing & Grøndahl.

There is a special place in Richard Baron Cohen’s heart for the Flora Danica service, whose botanical motifs were the most challenging of all in the refined art of porcelain painting. The painting of the floral motif demanded a meticulous sense of detail and a highly complex colour palette, which had to be custom-made. And then there was the design. The Royal Porcelain Manufactory’s production of the Flora Danica service began in 1790 and continued until 1802. At that time, the Flora Danica reference work was still in the process of being published. The first booklet was published in 1761. The extent of the project, which was expected to take 10 years, had been greatly underestimated. Instead, it would take 122 years to complete the work with its impressive 3,240 hand-coloured plates, making it the world’s largest floral reference work. It catalogued the Danish flora, which at the time included the flora of Denmark, the duchies, Norway, Iceland, the Faeroe Islands and Greenland. The motifs on the porcelain service are taken from the books’ engravings and painstakingly copied from book to plate, one-to-one. Complete editions of the botanical pictorial work, which ended up as motifs on royal porcelain, are extremely rare at auction, and the  complete 18 volumes are also set to go under the hammer. The Flora Danica service was used for the first time on 29 January 1803. It was for King Christian VII’s 54th birthday. 

Richard Baron Cohen is not only a collector. He is also a patron, who once commissioned the “Hippopotamus Service” from Royal Copenhagen, the design of which is identical to Flora Danica, while the decoration depicts named hippos from zoos all over the world. His historical interest in and love for Flora Danica cannot be denied. At the same time, he commissioned 3,000 pieces of Flora Danica, hand-painted from the botanical posters that were not used for the original service – something that it has taken Royal Copenhagen six years to complete. Among museums, researchers and collectors, Richard Baron Cohen is first and foremost known as a collector, but he is also recognised for his immense knowledge.