Lot Essay
The Meissen monkey band, or 'Affenkapelle', was one of the later achievements of J.J. Kändler. In December 1753, Lazare Duvaux, the Paris marchand-mercier, supplied 'Mme la Marquise de Pompadour... Dix neuf figures de Saxe formant un concert de singes, avec les instruments & attributs, a 23l., 437 un pupitre même porcelaine, 6l'. Indeed, the original inspiration for the band may have come from France where 'singeries' were aleady popular. See Robert Charleston, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Meissen and Other European Porcelain, Fribourg, 1971, no. 63.