Two Meissen porcelain figures of a wheel and cartwright and a blacksmith from The Artisans series, circa 1755-60

Anonymous sale, Leo Spik, Berlin, 24 March 2023, lots 502-503;

Acquired at the above sale.

The Artisans were among the largest and most complex of Kändler’s series of figures. It comprised around eighteen figures, mostly men, reflecting the fact that most guilds and craft associations in the 18th century tended to exclude women. The three women of the series are the seamstress, the spinner and the washerwoman. The figures are generally simply coloured, without elaborate patterns to their clothing, to realistically reflect the status of their craft. Similarly, the elaborate rococo scroll bases are usually outlined in enamel colours rather than in gilding. Further examples of the present models are in the Shimmerman Collection, Toronto, illustrated in Vanessa Sigalas and Meredith Chilton (eds.), All Walks of Life, A Journey with The Alan Shimmerman Collection, Toronto, 2022, pp. 166-67, cat. nos. 30-31. In her catalogue introduction to the series of figures, Sigalas notes that a number were included among those inventoried in the Royal Court Pantry at Schloss Hubertusburg in 1755, including “Ein Stell-oder Rademacher, à 9 ½ Zoll, woran der Bohrer zerbrochen…, [A cart-and wheel wright, each 9 ½ inches, on which the drill broke…] (p. 158). A near identical example of the wheel and cartwright, formerly in the Collection of Prinz Reuss j.L, sold at Phillips, London, 2 December 1992, lot 112. Most recently, examples of the carpenter and saddler figures from the series were sold at Sotheby’s, Cologne, The Ehlen Collection - Eine Rheinische Porzellansammlung, 6 March 2024, lots 77-78.