MEISSEN - Lot 451

MEISSEN Pair of porcelain statuettes representing greyhounds on an oval terrace decorated with flowers and foliage in relief, polychrome décor au naturel. Marked: crossed swords in blue. Model by Johann Joachim Kaendler. 18th century, circa 1745-1750. L.: 25 cm. Cracked base. The model is mentioned in Kaendler's work between 1740 and 1744 as follows: "Hund auff einem Rasen sehr dürre, dass alle Knocken zu sehen, ein Wind-Spiel vorstelland, vor den Herrn von Bilow.2.Thlr. 8 g" (Dog on the grass, so emaciated that all the bones can be seen, representing a greyhound for Herrn von Bilow. 2 Thlr. 8 g.). A pair is preserved in the Landesmuseum Schwerin and reproduced by Carl Albiker, Die Meissener Porzellantiere im 18. Jahrhundert, 1959, nos. 190 and 191. A similar pair of greyhounds was in the former collection of Sir Gawaine and Lady Baillie, Sotheby's, London, May 1, 2013, lot 173.