Lot Essay
J.J. Kändler first modelled a pair of jays for Augustus the Strong's Japanese Palace in 1735 and the pair to the present model is normally shown with a squirrel at the base. Further entries for this model are mentioned in Kändler's Taxa during October 1739 to January 1740, see Rainer Rückert, Meissener Porzellan 1710-1810, Munich, 1966, pp. 196 & 272, no. 1108 for a version of this model and no. 109 for the corresponding model. See the pair of jays from the collection of Sir Gawaine and Lady Baillie, sold Sotheby's, London, 1 May 2013, lot 21 and the pair from the collection of Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, sold Christie's, New York, 18 March 2005, lot 38.