Ghislaine Howard
Sale Coordinator
Lot 49*
A pair of Meissen models of hares, circa 1750
7 December 2022, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £36,840 inc. premium
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Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
A pair of Meissen models of hares, circa 1750
Modelled by J.J. Kaendler, naturalistically coloured, the doe seated on her haunches looking to one side, the buck with ears alert supported on his front paws, seated on a naturalistic rockwork ground with encrusted leaves and flowers, She: 15.2cm, He:16.5cm., she with crossed swords mark in blue to the reverse of the base and faint collector's mark '3' in brown ink (ears restored) (2)
Footnotes
Two upright hares acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild are in the collection of Waddesdon Manor, published (as a pair) by R.J. Charleston (et.al.), The James A. De Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Meissen and other European Porcelain (1971), cat.no. 60. The author notes the entry for 'two small hares' in Peter Reinicke's work records in October 1746, ande lists other known examples.
Another pair was more recently sold by Brian Haughton Gallery. A pair previously in the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller was sold at Christie's New York, 9 May 2018, lot 205, and in the Alexander Guttmann Collection, Christie's London, 5 July 2004, lot 142, and Sotheby's London, 1 May 2013, lot 29, also published by Melitta Kunze-Köllensperger (Alexander's Tiere, Sammlung Axel Guttmann (1999), no. 6.), where the author notes that hares are seen as a fertility symbol, and functioned as a sacrificial animal for the Goddess Aphrodite, and also was seen as a symbol of Resurrection due to is changing colours. Kunze-Köllensperger also notes that both fertility and resurrection are at the basis of the popularity of the commonly known Easter Bunny.
