King Vulture

Johann Joachim Kandler (1706 - 1775)

V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum)

circa 1731

A vulture turned slightly to its right with incised plumage. The work was formed in hollow plaster piece moulds using a porcelain recipe specially developed for the animals commissioned by Augustus the Strong for the 'Japanese Palace'. The Meissen animals made for the 'Japanese Palace' project are among the most important and ambitious early European porcelain productions by virtue of their aesthetic and technical achievement.

• Artists Include:
• Meissen Porcelain Factory

• Medium: hard paste porcelain
• Dimensions: 57.5 x 22.8cm
• Art Fund Grant: £75000 ( Total: £501,650; Export stopped)
• ArtFunded in: 2003
• Vendor: Trustees of the Longleat Chattels Settlement

Provenance

Commissioned for the Japanese Palace, Dresden by Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony; sold before 1850; Baring family; John Alexander, 4th Marquess of Bath; thence by descent at Longleat; Christie's, London, 2002.

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