COLLECTING MEISSEN MONKEYS
Love it or loathe it, the Monkey Orchestra is among Meissen’s most enduringly popular series of porcelain gures, nds
The enduringly popular series of porcelain "gures
Imagine a banquet at the 18thcentury Dresden court: an orchestra plays, a table bedecked with crystal and silver and huge porcelain centrepieces gli!ers and gleams, candlelight "ickers as diners take their seats. Then something intriguing draws their eye. Groups of small #gurines of monkeys playing musical instruments and singing parade along the table. ‘They were meant to be an ice-breaker at a dinner. If you were one of 200 people at court you might not know the people you were seated with, so they were there not just for decoration, but to create amusement and conversation,’ explains European porcelain expert and dealer Serhat Ahmet.
Playful, animated and fun, the monkeys rank among the most popular #gures ever created by the Meissen factory’s most
innovative modeller, the sculptor Johann Joachim Kaendler. For three centuries they have #aunted themselves in collectors’ cabinets and brandished their #utes, trumpets and violins on countless elegant mantelpieces. But when Kaendler !rst made them in 1749– 1755, the monkeys represented something new and exciting: eye-catching table decorations, to replace those traditionally made by confectioners from marzipan or sugar paste.
Innovation had already set Meissen apart from other European factories. In the early 18th century it had discovered the secret to making hard paste porcelain, rivalling that of the Far East. Kaendler ensured it retained its pre-eminent grip on the porcelain-loving public. Under his direction, the factory entered a new sculptural phase, producing a huge array of !gures that excited buyers at the time and have enthralled collectors ever since.
His inspiration came from contemporary life. Music and theatre were important entertainments at the Dresden court, and Kaendler injected subjects with characteristic humour. ‘He made !gures based on the Commedia dell’arte characters and the Galant Orchestra, depicting human courtiers playing music,’ says Serhat. What inspired the monkey theme? ‘Kaendler o"en looked to France for ideas. Figures such as the Cries of Paris were inspired by French engravings. But the monkeys are also modelled on courtiers of the day.’
France at that time was in the grip of the rococo fashion for singeries – monkeys aping humans in a satirical manner. The Château de Chantilly had monkey decorations scrambling over walls painted by Christophe Huet, who may have supplied drawings to Meissen. ‘Monkeys were viewed as being very close to humans, and one reason for their popularity is that they mix satire, humour and reality. Monkeys also mingle in Meissen !gure groups, for instance there’s a quack doctor with a monkey,’ says Serhat.
Clearly Kaendler’s interpretation of monkey fashion hit the mark. ‘One of the famous buyers of the !rst Meissen monkeys was Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, who bought a set
In the 18th century France was in the grip of the rococo fashion for singeries – monkeys aping humans in a satirical manner