manufacturer: Derby porcelain factory (English, estab. circa 1748, closed 1848); after a model by: Johann Kändler (German, b.1706, d.1775); after a model by: Meissen porcelain factory (German, estab. 1710);
figure group, from a pair, 'The tailor and his wife'. The wife with three babies, two in a basket on her back and one on her breast.
Copya after Meissen set made in the 1740s, which was inspired by the story of the King's chief administrator Count Bruehl was famed for his clothes. His tailor was of paramount importance to him. When the tailor's ambitions made him ask for an invitation to dine at court, the Count found this beyond the pale, and had Johann Joachim Kändler (Meissen modeller) make a figure of the tailor which he could place on his table and thus fulfil his empty promises.
Kändler's sense of the ridiculous got the better of him and they became a figure of fun and were copied by other factories. Evidence for it being of this date because colours are stronger, much more so than the 18th century and they are no longer leaving patches of white in their decoration. Only after 1772 numbers were incised in the base.
manufacturer: Derby porcelain factory (English, estab. circa 1748, closed 1848)
after a model by: Johann Kändler (German, b.1706, d.1775)
after a model by: Meissen porcelain factory (German, estab. 1710)
Derby, Derbyshire, England
Media description
porcelain (soft-paste)
Foundation Collection, 1989
A0774.2
Derby porcelain factory
Johann Joachim Kändler
Meissen porcelain factory
Subject Auto Tags
Figurine Statue Ceramic Toy Porcelain Art
soft paste porcelain ceramic