CIRCA 1750, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK TO UNDERSIDE

Details

A MEISSEN WHITE GROUP OF ATALANTA AND MELEAGER
CIRCA 1750, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK TO UNDERSIDE
Possibly modelled by J.F. Eberlein, with Meleager and Atalanta at discussion, Meleager in Roman dress standing with his left hand holding a long staff, Atalanta standing before a tree holding the boar's head and a dog seated on its haunches at her feet licking the dripping blood, on a rectangular stepped plinth base with canted corners, the front moulded with a hunting trophy, the trophy on the reverse with a shield, fasces and an olive branch, the sides with pendant ribbon-tied oak leaf garlands (upper section of staff a replacement, restoration to her right thumb, chipping to foliage, very small minor chip to edge of base at back)
11½ in. (29.3 cm.) high

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The subject of this group is derived from the legend recounted by Ovid (Met. 8: 260-546) in which Meleager's father, the King of Calydon, had offended the goddess Diana, and was punished by a wild boar sent by Diana to ravage the countryside. Atalanta, the virgin huntress, hunted it down with Meleager and others, and when it was finally killed Meleager presented her with the boar's head and pelt.

A similar coloured example is illustrated by Ulrich Pietsch et al, 'Porzellan Parforce' Exhibition Catalogue (Munich, 2005), p. 69, no. 12. A white group of Acis and Galatea on a similar plinth is illustrated by Ingelore Menzhausen, Early Meissen Porcelain in Dresden (London, 1990), no. 114.

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