A MEISSEN FIGURE OF THE SQUIRE OF ALSATIA FROM THE 'CRIES OF LONDON SERIES'

The Squire of Alsatia was a notorious pimp who was in charge of a thieves' den area of London known as Alsatia, named after Alsace which in the 17th century had a dubious reputation. The figure was inspired by an English engraving by Marcellus Laroon, published by Pierce Tempest as the Cries of London (see page 64 for a detail of this engraving), see W.B. Honey, Dresden China, London, 1946, p. 118. A version of this model and a corresponding figure of a London courtesan is illustrated by Len and Yvonne Adams, Meissen Portrait Figures, London, 1987, pp. 132-133. An example of this figure wearing a pink jacket is illustrated by Martin Eberle, see Cris de Paris, Meissen Porcelain Figures of the 18th Century, Leipzig, 2001, pp. 52-53, no. 12, and another with a yellow jacket is illustrated in the Catalogue of the Collection of Dresden Porcelain, Formed by S.B. Joel Esq., 2, Gt Stanhope Street, London, W., Vol. I, circa 1900 or later, compiled by Frank Partridge, pp. 45-46.