CIRCA 1733

Details

A Meissen white model of turkey-cock modelled by J.J. Kändler
Circa 1733
Its head half-turned to its right, with incised eyes, an extended drooping comb suspended from the curved upper beak, the neck with deeply incised wrinkled skin, its overlapping short rounded body-feathers each with a raised central spine and incised spines covering its plump breast and back, its wings with long divided wing feathers falling to the ground and partially obscuring its three-clawed feet, the raised humped back terminating in its displayed fan-shaped tail with two tiers of radiating feathers, with a short forked tail below, supported on a circular rockwork base applied with moss and plants with short broad leaves (some repairs, chips and cracks)
The model 23 in. (53.5 cm.) high, the tail 20 in. (51 cm.) wide, the base 8 in. (20.4 cm.) wide

Provenance

Supplied to Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony (d. 1733).
By repute gifted by a member of the Baring family to John Alexander, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831-1896), and by descent.

Literature

1869 Inventory, 'A pair of Turkeys'.
1896 Inventory (4th Marquess' Heirloons) p. 35 v, Saloon, 'Pair of 24 in. white porcelain turkeys'.
Country Life, August 14th 1897, p. 154, illustrates the turkey in the Drawing Room (formerly the Long Gallery) at Longleat.
H. Granville Fell (ed.), The Connoisseur Year Book, 1951, London, p. 43, fig. X.
M. Aldrich, 'The Marquess and the Decorator', Country Life, 7 December 1989, p. 166, fig. 8.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Kändler's Taxa, 1.1733, XIX Bl. 51, records: 'Ein Truthahn in Lebensgrösse' ('a turkey of life size').

There were eight models of turkeys made for the Japanese Palace; see Albiker, op. cit. (Berlin, 1959), pl. 55 and 56, for two examples in the Porzellansammlung in Dresden; another example is in the collection of Lord Barnard at Raby Castle, County Durham and a further example remains at Longleat.

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