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Lot Essay
These lively children, with their playful postures and their courtly dress, epitomise the light-hearted atmosphere of rococo Europe. Designed to adorn a balustrade or parterre, one can easily imagine them among the fountains of an 18th century formal garden.
Stylistically, the figures emanate from the artisitc milieu of Dresden in the early decades of the 18th century when that city was at its cultural apogee. The creation of the Zwinger palace, originally designed as a temporary structure on the edge of the city and then made permanent due to its popularity, ensured a steady stream of commissions for decorative sculptural programmes. At the centre of this activity was Balthasar Permoser, however he was surrounded by numerous other skilled artists. The present four figures relate closely to the work of several of these men, in particular Christian Kirchner (d.1732), Benjamin Thomae (1682-1751), and Matthias Oberschall (1688-1755) (Asche, loc. cit).
Stylistically, the figures emanate from the artisitc milieu of Dresden in the early decades of the 18th century when that city was at its cultural apogee. The creation of the Zwinger palace, originally designed as a temporary structure on the edge of the city and then made permanent due to its popularity, ensured a steady stream of commissions for decorative sculptural programmes. At the centre of this activity was Balthasar Permoser, however he was surrounded by numerous other skilled artists. The present four figures relate closely to the work of several of these men, in particular Christian Kirchner (d.1732), Benjamin Thomae (1682-1751), and Matthias Oberschall (1688-1755) (Asche, loc. cit).