Rare groupe franc-maçon 'crinoline' représentant... Lot 27

Rare groupe franc-maçon 'crinoline' représentant un couple d'amoureux, circa 1745 A rare Meissen masonic crinoline group of lovers, circa 1745 Modelled by J.J. Kaendler, the lady seated on a gilt-edged high-backed chair sewing an apron on a gilt-edged rococo table, the apron resting on a green cushion next to a seated pug dog, scissors and a spool of thread, wearing a white cap with red ribbon, a black crinoline dress reserved with indianische Blumen and with puce cuffs and bodice and yellow bows, a purple underskirt and gilt-striped red shoes, the gentleman blowing her a kiss, wearing a blue-lined white jacket with gilt buttons, gilt-edged red waistcoat and turquoise breeches, a gilt square hanging from his shirt, a sword to his right and his tricorn hat under his left arm, the base applied with leaves and flowers, 18cm high (minor restoration) Footnotes: Provenance: Paul Schnyder von Wartensee Collection, Luzern; Thence by descent; The Property of a European Nobleman, sold Sotheby's London, 29 June 1982, lot 105 Literature: S. Ducret, Meissner Porzellan (1952), fig. 42; S. Ducret, Deutsches Porzellan und Deutsche Fayencen (1962), no. 42; S. Ducret, German Porcelain and Faience (1962), no. 42; S. Ducret, Porzellan der europäischen Manufakturen im 18. Jahrhundert (1971), col. pl. 22; S. Ducret, The Colour Treasury of 18th Century Porcelain (1971), fig. 22; Johannes Rafael, Zur 'Taxa Kaendler', in Keramos 203/204 (2009), p. 60 (illustrated); W. Siemen (pub.), Vor den Ursprüngen des europäischen Porzellans bis zum Art Déco (2010), cat. no. 72 Exhibited: Zürich, Kunsthaus, 'Schönheit des 18. Jahrhunderts', 10 September to 6 November 1955, cat. no. P22; Hohenberg a.d. Eger. Museum der deutschen Porzellanindustrie Hohenberg, 'Impulse. Europäische Porzellanmaufakturen als Wegbereiter internationaler Lebenskultur', 1995; Selb and Hohenberg a.d. Eger, Porzellanikon, 'Königstraum und Massenware. 300 Jahr europäisches Porzellan', 24 April to 2 November 2010 The group is listed in Kaendler's Taxa of overtime work: '1. Frey Maurer Groupgen, da eine Dame an einem Tische darauff ein Neh-Küßen befindl. sizet, u. ein Schurz Fell einfaßt, neben der Dame sizt ein Mopß Hund, ein Frey Maurer aber findet sich zu ihr und will sie küßen, 18 Thlr.' [1 freemason group of a lady seated at a table on which there is a sewing cushion and sewing the hem of an apron. a pug dog is seated next to the lady, a freemason is by her and wants to kiss her] (quoted by Rafael, op. cit, p. 60). The pug dog is usually seated on the base. Only two other examples are recorded with the pug on the table: in the Maurice de Rothschild collection, sold at Christie's London, 28 March 1977, lot 127; and another, sold at Sotheby's Geneva, 10 May 1988, lot 42, and again at Sotheby's London, 25 October 2016, lot 597. Other recorded examples of this rare group are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Irwin Untermyer Collection, acc. no. 64.101.62; in the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin (formerly in the collections of Walter von Pannwitz and Hermine Feist), published by S. Bursche, Meissen Steinzeug und Porzellan (1980), no. 310; and (mounted as a clock) the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, inv. no. 1993.54. Another was in the Hermann Emden Collection, Hamburg (sold by Lepke's Berlin, 3-7 November 1908, lot 367), and subsequently in the René Fribourg Collection, New York (mounted on an ormolu scrollwork base), sold Sotheby's London, 15 October 1963, lot 496. The first Masonic lodges in German lands were established in Hamburg in 1737 and Berlin in 1740, attracting many members from the Protestant nobility. Catholics were forbidden from joining by a papal bull issued by Pope Clement XII in 1738. In response, the pseudo-Masonic Order of the Pug Dog (Mopsorden) was established, which copied masonic rituals, but – unlike the Freemasons – allowed women to join. The pug dog, the fashionable lapdog of the time, was adopted as a symbol of the order, which resulted in the production of numerous courtly figures and groups with pugs, as well as models of the dogs themselves, at the Meissen manufactory. See S. Bursche, op. cit, pp. 300-301; and, for a detailed account of the Mopsorden, E. Köllmann, Der Mopsorden, in Keramos 50 (1970), pp. 71ff. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com