Collection Online as of April 1, 2023

Figural Group: Musicians

c. 1737

manufacturer

Meissen Porcelain Factory

(German, est. c. 1710)

modeled by

Johann Joachim Kändler

(German, 1706–1768)

Germany, 18th century

Porcelain

Overall: 20 x 29.2 x 16.7 cm (7 7/8 x 11 1/2 x 6 9/16 in.)

Gift of Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. 1952.2

Location

216A French and German

Description

An elegantly dressed couple accompany one another in a duet while seated on a tall-backed settee in this German porcelain figurine. The woman is likely playing a lute, an early form of the guitar, while the gentleman joins in with a wooden flute. Their music-making reflects their courtship and intimacy—a typical symbolic gesture rendered in such figural ceramic sculptures.

Meissen Porcelain Factory

the first and for half a century the best in Europe. It set a high standard which was emulated everywhere, even in China. Founded in 1710 as the Royal Saxon Porcelain Manufacture by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, at Meissen, near Dresden.

Provenance

(Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc., New York).

Exhibition history

Lutes, Lovers, and Lyres: Musical Imagery in the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 14-June 11, 1989).

Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 25-May 17, 2015).