Spink USA
Auction 382 15 Jan 2023
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Silesia, Glogau, Karl Ludwig von Corceji, Golden Jubilee AR Medal, 1802, by A Abramson, draped bust right, rev. eight lines of text in wreath, edge plain, 27.80g, 1h (Friedensburg/Seger 3724; Hoffman 194), speckled tone, otherwise lustrous, almost extremely fine, very rare.
Cocceji gained fame through his marriage to the dancer Barbarina. The dancer, also known as the "Flying Goddess" by her admirers, was born in 1721 as Barbara Campanini in the northern Italian city of Parma. At the Teatro Farnese there, she received her dance training from the famous dancer Fossano. Early on, she was praised for her brilliant technique and expressive pantomime. From 1739, she celebrated her first successes at the Paris Opera and at the court of Louis XV, where various contemporary composers created ballet pieces especially for her. In the following years she made guest appearances on the most important European theaters. Friedrich II saw the Barbarina in Paris in 1743 and is said to have been so impressed by her beauty and charm that he wanted to take her to the Berlin Opera on the spot, and then hired her for the next one Season. But this threatened her fledgling relationship with the Scottish Lord Stuart Mackenzie. The couple fled to Venice to avoid the Berlin contract. But the Prussian king let his diplomatic connections play, and the dancer was finally brought to Berlin under military guard. Here she rose to become the undisputed diva of dance theatre. She was so popular that Friedrich allowed her to set her own fee. After all, she got 7,000 Reichstaler a year on five months' leave. The equally prominent court musician Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, on the other hand, had to be satisfied with 300 Reichstaler.
The clever Barbarina's palace became a magnet for artists and diplomats. In 1748, she fell out of favour with the king, with whom she was said to have had an affair. She had accepted her admirer Carl Ludwig von Cocceji's marriage proposal, which he made to her after a performance on the open stage. His father, the Prussian Grand Chancellor and judicial reformer Samuel von Cocceji, tried to prevent this inappropriate liaison and induced Friedrich to terminate the dancer's engagement. The Barberina went to England, but soon returned to her lover, who was eventually jailed for 18 months. The couple had to secretly get married. Cocceji was exiled to Glogau in Silesia, the Barberina who followed him was forced to sell her Berlin palace. The relationship lasted ten years, then the dancer separated from her husband; however, the divorce was not finalised until 1788. In 1789, King Friedrich Wilhelm II awarded her the title of Countess. On their estates in Barschau in Silesia, the Barberina founded a monastery for impoverished noble ladies, which lasted until the First World War.
Estimate: $70 - $100
Cocceji gained fame through his marriage to the dancer Barbarina. The dancer, also known as the "Flying Goddess" by her admirers, was born in 1721 as Barbara Campanini in the northern Italian city of Parma. At the Teatro Farnese there, she received her dance training from the famous dancer Fossano. Early on, she was praised for her brilliant technique and expressive pantomime. From 1739, she celebrated her first successes at the Paris Opera and at the court of Louis XV, where various contemporary composers created ballet pieces especially for her. In the following years she made guest appearances on the most important European theaters. Friedrich II saw the Barbarina in Paris in 1743 and is said to have been so impressed by her beauty and charm that he wanted to take her to the Berlin Opera on the spot, and then hired her for the next one Season. But this threatened her fledgling relationship with the Scottish Lord Stuart Mackenzie. The couple fled to Venice to avoid the Berlin contract. But the Prussian king let his diplomatic connections play, and the dancer was finally brought to Berlin under military guard. Here she rose to become the undisputed diva of dance theatre. She was so popular that Friedrich allowed her to set her own fee. After all, she got 7,000 Reichstaler a year on five months' leave. The equally prominent court musician Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, on the other hand, had to be satisfied with 300 Reichstaler.
The clever Barbarina's palace became a magnet for artists and diplomats. In 1748, she fell out of favour with the king, with whom she was said to have had an affair. She had accepted her admirer Carl Ludwig von Cocceji's marriage proposal, which he made to her after a performance on the open stage. His father, the Prussian Grand Chancellor and judicial reformer Samuel von Cocceji, tried to prevent this inappropriate liaison and induced Friedrich to terminate the dancer's engagement. The Barberina went to England, but soon returned to her lover, who was eventually jailed for 18 months. The couple had to secretly get married. Cocceji was exiled to Glogau in Silesia, the Barberina who followed him was forced to sell her Berlin palace. The relationship lasted ten years, then the dancer separated from her husband; however, the divorce was not finalised until 1788. In 1789, King Friedrich Wilhelm II awarded her the title of Countess. On their estates in Barschau in Silesia, the Barberina founded a monastery for impoverished noble ladies, which lasted until the First World War.
Estimate: $70 - $100