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Lot Essay
Turkeys, native to North America, were first sent to Spain in the early 16th century and were described at the time as "a kind of a peacock with great hanging chins." Prized for their exoticism and flavor, by the 1560s they were a popular menu item among the elite in England and the rest of Europe. Another example of this extremely rare model with brown and yellow plumage, marked with the Höchst wheel and previously in the collection of Heli de Talleyrand, was sold Christie's, Paris, 24 June 2009, lot 80. Sold as previously unrecorded, the present lot would make the second known example.
Other German turkey tureens, including a Höchst example seated on a platter and models by Straßburg and Braunschweig are known, but the present model appears to be the most naturally rendered. Compare the less life-like models illustrated by A. Stoehr, Deutche Fayence und Deutsches Steingut, Berlin, 1920, p. 101, no. 43 and p. 342, no. 160.
Other German turkey tureens, including a Höchst example seated on a platter and models by Straßburg and Braunschweig are known, but the present model appears to be the most naturally rendered. Compare the less life-like models illustrated by A. Stoehr, Deutche Fayence und Deutsches Steingut, Berlin, 1920, p. 101, no. 43 and p. 342, no. 160.