Live Auction 14963THE COLLECTOR: English and European Furniture, Works of Art & Ceramics & Silver
A MEISSEN PORCELAIN FIGURE GROUP OF FRÖLICH AND SCHMIEDEL
Lot 763 The West Collection

A MEISSEN PORCELAIN FIGURE GROUP OF FRÖLICH AND SCHMIEDEL

DATED 1742, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK, MODELED BY J.J. KÄNDLER

Closed18 October 2017

Price Realised

USD 136,250

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A MEISSEN PORCELAIN FIGURE GROUP OF FRÖLICH AND SCHMIEDEL
DATED 1742, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK, MODELED BY J.J. KÄNDLER
Frölich wearing a pointed hat tied with a bouquet of flowers, his black suspenders initialed and dated in gilt F.S.' 1742, an owl perched on the brim of his hat, a second owl perched on the right arm, torturing the fleeing Schmiedel; with a mouse trap wearing a tricorn hat, a gold medallion around his neck, his coat trimmed in oxidized silver and ornamented with a badge of the arms of Poland and Saxony, behind them a shrub and a tree with a third owl perched at the top, on a mound base applied with flowering vine
11 in. (28 cm.) high

Specialist note

Frölich was the much lauded court jester for both Augustus the Strong and Augustus III. He was "reknowned for his tricks legerdemain. He was also a great punster, and so delighted his master with his aptitude for double-entendres, that he was dubbed Count of Sanmagen and given an escutcheon" (see Scribner's Monthly, vol. 15, November 1877-April 1878, p. 694). Schmeidel, the former postmaster at Lauchstadt, served as his cohort and foil, bearing the brunt of many of Frölich's jokes, and was known for his aversion to mice. J.J. Kändler delighted in immortalizing this fear of rodents in porcelain, as is seen in the present lot and in the bust of Schmeidel he produced at Augustus' request.

This figure group entered Känder's Taxa in September of 1741 as "Joseph Fröhlich mit einer Mäuse-Falle, und Mr. Schmiedel, mit einer Eule, in Händen haltend, und gegen-einander stehend." For other examples of this rare group, see O. Walcha, Meißner Porzellan, Dresden, 1973, pl. 105; the group in the Metropolitan Museum of Art from the Irwin Untermyer Collection (accession no. 64.101.127); and the example in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut.