A MEISSEN PORCELAIN FIGURE GROUP OF FRÖLICH AND SCHMIEDEL

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.