A PAIR OF LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED MEISSEN PORCELAIN MODELS OF KINGFISHERS

The model by J.J. Kändler was entered into his work records in September 1735 as (translated) "a kingfisher sitting on a small stone precipice somewhat overgrown with leaves" (see S. Wittwer, The Gallery of Meissen Animals, Augustus the Strong's Menagerie for the Japanese Palace in Dresden, Munich, 2006, p. 342). The second bird was later modeled by Eberlein in May of 1739. Compare the two kingfishers without mounts in the collection of Sir Gawaine and Lady Baillie, sold Sotheby's, London, 1 May 2013, lot 11.