- 46
A large Meissen figure of Count Brühls' Tailor circa 1860-1880
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
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Description
- crossed swords in underglaze-blue, impressed numerals
- 44cm., 17¼in.
after an 18th century model by J.J.Kändler, the bewigged gentleman wearing a pink floral coat, boots and tricorn hat, astride a shaggy billy goat with the various accoutrements of his trade
Catalogue Note
A similar version of this figure was sold in our Olympia Rooms 6th October, 2005, lot 84.
Count Brühl was King Augustus III of Saxony's chief administrator and a man famed for his clothes. His tailor, therefore, was of paramount importance to him. However, when the tailor's ambitions made him ask for an invitation to dine at court, the Count found this beyond the pale and had Kändler make a figure of the tailor which he could place on his table and thus fulfil his empty promises. Kändler's undoubted sense of the ridiculous got the better of him and the original model, produced in the early 1740s, became a figure of fun.