Image


Johann Joachim Kändler, modeler
Description
Maker
- Johann Joachim Kändler, 1706-1775, German, modeler
- Peter Reinicke, 1715-1768, German, modeler
- Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, 1710-present, German
Title
Year
Medium
Materials/Techniques
Materials
Dimensions
Signature / Inscription / Marks
All marked with small crossed swords in underglaze blue on back of base, except hurdy-gurdy player which is unmarked
Place
Type
Credit
Bequest of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich
Object Number
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