Meissen Malabar Figurines

In the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company's extensive imports of Chinese and Japanese hard paste porcelain ignited a European quest to replicate this exquisite material. Augustus II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, assembled a team led by Johann Friedrich Böttger, an alchemist turned porcelain pioneer. Under house arrest, Böttger discovered the crucial role of kaolin in creating the desired porcelain. In 1710, Augustus established the royal porcelain factory in Meissen, near Dresden. The crossed swords mark, adopted in 1720, symbolized the highest quality European porcelain and spurred international competition, leading to the establishment of the Sevres porcelain works by Louis XV. Meissen sculptors, such as Joachim Johann Kaendler, drew inspiration from diverse sources like commedia dell'arte, mythology, royal menageries, and exotic locales like the Malabar coast of India, as exemplified by the 19th-century "Malabar Musicians" figurines. Handmade and hand painted in Germany in a tradition of porcelain figurines from the world famous Meissen, Europe's oldest porcelain manufactory.

Measures 2" x 2" x 7¼" h.

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