A Rococo Meissen group of a groom and horse
A Louis XV gilt and patinated bronze-mounted Meissen porcelain group
depicting a groom holding a rearing horse – circa 1750
The Meissen porcelain mid-18th Century, underglaze blue crossed-swords mark
The model by Johann Joachim Kaendler
Height: 28.5 cm. (11 ¼ in.) Width: 27.5 cm. (10 ¾ in.)
Depth: 22.5 cm. (8 ¾ in.)
Mounted on a rocaille terrace with a waterfall and a gilt bronze palm tree, adorned with a patinated bronze frog and lizard.
Comparative Literature
V.Sigalas, ‘Peoples and Animals of Foreign Lands’ in Alfredo Reyes and Claudia Bodinek (eds)., Magnificence of Rococo, Wawel Castle, Cracow, May-September 2024 Exhibition Catalogue, Stuttgart, 2024, pp. 254-255, no. 76
While this model doesn’t feature in the factory records of Kaendler’s work, it does appear in a 1753 inventory of Count von Brühl’s Konditorei (dessert service) where it is described as Pferde mit 1 Mohr [Horse with 1 moor] (Sigalas, op. cit.). A related figure of a rearing horse and groom can be seen in a 1753 painting by Aert Schouman depicting a group of erudite connoisseurs surrounded by their treasures, further confirming a dating to circa 1750.
The same group on a nearly identical gilt bronze base is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2004.361.1). The marchand-mercier, Lazare Duvaux, sold one in 1753 as well, confirming the model’s popularity in France.
Aert Schouman, Portrait of Jan Bisschop, Pieter Bisschop and Olivier Van Vlierden Hope, oil on canvas, dated 1753
The identical Meissen group in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(2004.361.1)