A PAIR OF MEISSEN ORMOLU-MOUNTED HORSE AND GROOM GROUPS CIRCA 1750, ORMOLU 19TH CENTURY

modelled by J. J. Kändler, each raised on an oval base encrusted with colorful flowers and mounted on a Louis XVI-style ormolu stand.

The group with the Turkish groom: Both forelegs of the horse have been broken off and restored back; the restoration has degraded and the damage is apparent. The overspray extends complete length of the legs up to the body. The groom has been broken from the base through both ankles and the treestump support between his legs and restored back. It is subsequently broken again through the restoration and now glued back. The horse's both rear legs have been broken and restored back. There is an area of restoration to the end of the horse's tail. There is a rivet on the front edge of the base, on the side of the base behind the groom and rivet holes at the back edge of the base and the horse's tail. There is no apparent damage that the rivets are securing. The horse's reins are metal replacements. There are tiny chips to the tips of the ears of the horse. The groom is restored to the neck and arms. There are minor chips and losses to the applied leaves and flowers. The group with the blackamoor groom: This group is cemented to the ormolu base and has not been examined off the ormolu mount. There is a long fine haircrack running from the back edge of the base halfway up and around the support beneath the horse and then down and ending beneath the groom; it could be related to a short firing crack running between the groom's cloak and the support beneath the horse. Both of horse's forelegs are restored; the restoration has degraded and the damage is apparent. Both ears of the horse are restored and one is chipped. There are some minor chips and losses to the applied leaves and flowers.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Similar figural groups with the blackamoor are illustrated by Carl Albiker in Die Meissner Porzellantiere, figs. 228-231. Two similar groups with the blackamoor are also illustrated by Ulrich Pietsch, Meißner Porzellanplastik von Gottlieb Kirchner und Johann Joachim Kaendler, p. 30, cat. no. 26, where the author suggests that Johann Adolp Pöppelmann's painting, Mohr mit Pferd (1720), or Johann Georg de Hamilton's representation of a white horse and a blackamoor (1709) may have served as inspirations for this model. The author also mentions that the Konditorei inventory of Count von Brühl from 1753 lists '2 Pferde mit 1 Mohr,' suggesting that the figures were possibly used as table decoration.