19 porcelain figurines and one music desk from the ape chapel

Lot 6
17.11.2021 14:00UTC +01:00
Classic
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€ 10 000
AuctioneerVAN HAM Kunstauktionen GmbH
Event locationGermany, Köln
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ID 647730
Lot 6 | 19 porcelain figurines and one music desk from the ape chapel
Estimate value
€ 8 000 – 10 000
19 PORCELAIN FIGURINES AND ONE MUSIC DESK FROM THE APE CHAPEL.

Meissen.
Date: 20th century.
Maker/Designer: Model J.J. Kaendler.
Technique: Porcelain, enriched in colours and gold.
Description: Consisting of: ape as music director with music desk, three singers, ape with flute,
bassoonist, backpipe player, bugle player, trumpet player, ape playing the harp,
violinist, cellist, guitar player, ape carrying drums, drummer, trianglist, flutist, ape
playing the hurdy gurdy, trumpet player.
Measurement: Height 12-19cm.
Mark: Swordsmark.


Literature:
- Adams, Len and Yvonne: Meissen Portrait Figures, Leicester 1992, P.188 und 195.
- Rückert, Rainer: Meissener Porzellan von 1710-1810. Cat. Nr.1064-1078
- www.meissen.com (Stand 04.03.2020)

The monkey figurines, dressed in elaborate rococo clothing, parody the upper social class of the 18th century and its allures in a highly exaggerated manner. Historical records suggest that the eccentric apes were inspired in particular by the chapel of Count Brühl. The male monkeys take on the roles of the musicians, while the female monkeys are portrayed as singers.
Even though the exact date of origin of the chapel is not precisely documented, the form numbers and a purchase of 19 such figures by Madame de Pompadour suggest that the figurines were developed around 1753. Probably created by Johann Joachim Kaendler and reviewed in 1765/66 with the assistance of Peter Reinicke, the monkeys are considered the "most bizarre classic of the Meissen Baroque" (www.meissen.com).
In the middle of the 18th century depictions of monkeys, which in a parodistic way depict human traits, enjoyed great popularity. This genre of the so-called "Singerie" (French "singe" = monkey) was not only interpreted in porcelain, but can also be found in wall and ceiling frescoes or on goblins. There is a presumption that Christophe Hueet's wall paintings in the so-called monkey cabinet of Chantilly Castle may be regarded as a model for the Meissen chapel. Another French model could be a monkey chapel of the Mennecy Manufactory from the 1740s. Another example of a chapel that resembles Kaendler's models for the Meissen manufactory is an alabaster chapel from Venice, made around 1745, that today is exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Bagpiper: model no. 8, bossing no. 119 with year for 1973, Good condition. Horn player: model no. 9, bossing no. 29 with year for 1972, Good condition. Conductor: 60001, bossing no. 137 with year for 1973, Painter no. 9, Good condition. Cellist: 60002, bossing no. 107 with year for 1973, Good condition. Drum holder: 60003, bossing no. 119 with year for 1973, painter no. 7, Good condition. Flute player: 60004, bossing no. 140 with year for 1973, painter no. 111, Good condition. Trumpet player: 60005, bossing no. 107 with year for 1973, painter no. 15, Good condition. Violinist: 60006, bossing no. 101 with year for 1973, painter no. 24, good condition. Singer purple: 60007, bossing no. 108 with year for 1973, Good condition. Singer yellow: 60010, bossing no. 119 with year for 1973, painter no. 6, Good condition. Transverse flute player: 60011, bossing no. 144 with year for 1975, flute end broken off and reattached. Triangle player: 60013, bossing no. 98 with year for 1973, triangle broken off and re-stucked. Playing stick broken off and restucked. Right arm broken off and re-stucked. Holding strap of triangle broken off and missing. Drummer: 60015, bossing no. 133 with year for 1975, painter no. 81, good condition. Guitarist: 60017, bossing no. 139 with year for 1973, Good condition. Hurdy-gurdy player: 60016, bossing no. 127 with year for 1973, painter no. 14, Good condition. Singer purple, flowered skirt: 60018, bossing no. 98 with year for 1973, painter no. 12, Good condition. Bassoon player: 60019, bossing no. 132 with year for 1973, Good condition. Harpist: 60021, bossing no. 112 with year for 1973, painter no. 22, Good condition. Lectern: 60022, bossing no. 22 with year for 1973, painter no. 111, Good condition.
Address of auction VAN HAM Kunstauktionen GmbH
Hitzelerstr. 2
50968 Köln
Germany
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