Ghislaine Howard
Sale Coordinator
Lot 86
An unusual Meissen figure of Hofnarr Fröhlich, second half 19th century
7 December 2022, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,550 inc. premium
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Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
An unusual Meissen figure of Hofnarr Fröhlich, second half 19th century
Possibly after a model by J.G. Kirchner, wearing a pointed white hat with a blue ribbon, a yellow jacket with iron-red cuffs and gilt details, an iron-red shirt with black braces inscribed in gilding 'J.F.' and '1732', his buff trousers with a gilt and green button and black boots, on a rectangular base with gilt band, 22.8cm high (minor restoration)
Footnotes
Provenance:
Anon. sale, Sotheby's Belgravia, 4 October 1973, lot 115
Literature:
R. Rückert, Der Hofnarr Joseph Fröhlich (1998), p. 28, ill. 8
The Saxon Court Jester Joseph Fröhlich (1694-1757) was first modelled by Johann Joachim Kaendler or J.G. Kirchner around 1733 after an engraving by C.F. Boetius of 1729. The first mention of the figure is in a delivery from the porcelain store in Dresden on 7th March 1733: 'Für den Königl. Printzen von Pohlen und Littauen und Cour-Fürstl. Durchl. zu Sachsen [...] 1. Josephs Figur' (for the Royal Prince of Poland and Electoral Serene Highness of Saxony ... 1 figure of Joseph). Kaendler reworked the figure in 1736 and revised it again in 1737 and 1738. The inscribed dates on his braces range between 1733 and 1758. Fröhlich, whose full title was "Ober-Mühlen-commisarius, Kurzweiligen Rat, Königlich-Polnischen Mühlen-Kommisarius", was depicted not only in several Meissen figures and groups, but also a variety of other materials, including faience. See Rückert (Literature above) for the definitive study of Fröhlich's life, esp. pp. 25-39.
A similar figure of Joseph Fröhlich - now missing - on a gilt-edged flat and bearing the date '1733' was in the Turmzimmer of the Dresden Residence by 1900 (illustrated in a watercolour published that year by Karl Berling). R. Rückert (see above) suggests that it could be the figure of Fröhlich included in the Turmzimmer inventory of 1769, despite the description not matching precisely (the inventory describes an owl on his head and shoulder, while the figure illustrated by Berling has an owL on the shoulder and right arm). Two other examples of this figure are recorded, dated '1777' and '1734' (Rückert, p. 27).
XRF-analysis of the gilding on this figure is consistent with 18th-century technology. It was not possible, however, to test the tiny spots of green enamel.
