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Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, ca. 1753

Description

Maker

  • Johann Joachim Kändler, 1706-1775, German, modeler
  • Peter Reinicke, 1715-1768, German, modeler
  • Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, 1710-present, German

Title

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle

Year

ca. 1753

Medium

Porcelain with enamels, glaze, and gilding

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • porcelain,
  • enamel,
  • hard paste

Techniques

  • gilding,
  • gilded

Dimensions

Height: 17.5 cm (6 7/8 inches) (overall)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

All marked with small crossed swords in underglaze blue on back of base, except hurdy-gurdy player which is unmarked

Place

Meissen; Germany

Type

  • Ceramics

Credit

Bequest of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

Object Number

55.169

About

The monkey as art subject became so popular during the 1700s that the genre was given its own name 'singerie', after the French word for monkey (singe). It featured fashionably attired monkeys parodying human activities, here a performance by a musical group. Intricate detailing on the twenty-four pieces of The Monkey Band reveals the modeling skills of the Meissen factory’s Johann Joachim Kändler. His sense of movement and naturalism elevated these rococo-style porcelain figures to the level of fine art. As master modeler at Meissen for more than forty years, Kändler took the medium to new heights of imagination and technical finesse, bringing world renown to Europe’s first manufacturer of true hard-paste porcelain. Such figures reached the apex of their popularity as amusing table decorations between 1740 and 1750.

All marked with small crossed swords in underglaze blue on back of base, except hurdy-gurdy player which is unmarked

Meissen; Germany
[]

Projects & Publications

Publications

Arlene Shechet

All At Once

Selected Works

The Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection of European Porcelain Figures of the Eighteenth Century

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Arlene Shechet

January 17 - July 6, 2014

Related

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Bass Fiddle Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Bagpipe Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Singer, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Singer, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Music Stand, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Hurdy-Gurdy/Lyre Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Flute Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Kettle Drum Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Clarinet Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Piano Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Conductor, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Music Stand, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Kettle Drum Carrier, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Drummer, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Bassoon Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Guitar Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Trumpet Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, French Horn Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Flute Player, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Singer, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Singer, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Singer, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Music Stand, ca. 1753

Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler

The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle, Music Stand, ca. 1753

More objects +

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is The Monkey Band | Affenkapelle with the accession number of 55.169. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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