THE PORCELAIN 19TH CENTURY, SMALL PARTIAL BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK TO BACK OF RHINO'S LEFT FOOT, THE LOOSE ORMOLU BASE OF LATER DATE

It is not clear who the modeler of this group was as it is not recorded in the work reports for Kändler and his workshop of sculptors, and there are no records between 1749 and 1764. It seems likely that Meissen would have produced a rhinoceros model fairly soon after the live ‘Dutch’ rhinoceros was displayed in Dresden in April 1747, an event which astounded the Saxons⁽¹⁾. It would also have become clear just how inaccurate the earlier model produced for the King’s Japanese Palace was. Tim Clarke notes that this model has a model number of 1692, suggesting a date of early 1752⁽²⁾. This group sometimes appears together with the group of a Sultan on an Elephant. The latter group has a model number suggesting an earlier date of 1749, but as Rückert noted, it was only first mentioned in 1752, when a Meissen elephant and Sultan group appeared in the Livre-Journal of the Parisian marchand mercier Lazarre Duvaux. Clarke concluded that it appears the two groups were therefore ‘issued at the same time’.(3) This is ultimately speculation, but as the two groups are sometimes found together, perhaps they were sometimes sold together. Compare the pair in the collection of S.B. Joel and ormolu-mounted on rocaille bases, sold at Christie's, London, 29 May 1935, lot 33. A second unmounted pair, formerly in the collection of Anthony and Yvonne Rothschild, was sold by Christie's, London, 5 April 1982 and again at Sotheby's, London, 15 April 1997, lot 88. A third pair is known in the Hermitage. Also compare the example illustrated by L. and Y. Adams, Meissen Portrait Figures, London, 1987, p. 167.

1. See T. Clarke, ‘The rhinoceros in European ceramics’ in Keramik-Freunde der Schweiz, no. 89, November 1976, pp. 9-11.
2. Clarke, ibid., p. 11.
3. See Abraham den Blaauwen, ‘Meissen en het Journal van Lazare Duvaux’ in Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 9, 1961, p. 25 and T. Clarke, ibid., p. 11.