Manufacture De Meissen - Monkey Musician Harp Player

Musician monkey in Meissen porcelain with polychrome and gold decoration playing the harp, mark in blue with crossed swords and hollow marks. 20th century.

Johann-Joachim Kàndler created this series of porcelain musician monkeys, a satire of the orchestra of the Court of Frederick-August of Saxony, known as "the Strong" around 1747, which he modified around 1765 because of their popularity. with the help of his collaborator Peter Reinicke. Kàndler is the most famous modeler of Meissen and played an undeniable role as the creator of European porcelain sculpture. The peak of this artist from 1735 to 1750 saw the creation of numerous and varied works: animals, harlequins, actors, groups of lovers, mythological scenes. Johann-Joachim Kaendler was probably inspired to create this parody of orchestras with monkeys from the satirical illustrations of the French ornamental painter Christophe Huet (1700-1759) emulator of Berain and Gillot, who decorated the Château de Champs with chinoiseries (1740) , and painted around 1750 the antics of the Hotel de Rohan in Paris, a very fashionable theme among the bourgeoisie of the time. These extremely popular little monkeys in the 18th century are the most famous of all the porcelain animal figurines produced in Meissen, even the Marquise de Pompadour, who was a great patron of the arts, ordered 19 of these figures in 1753. Since then the designs have been widely copied by other porcelain makers across Europe. The Meissen factory still produces it today.