Sweetmeat Stand in Chinoiserie Style

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Sweetmeat Stand in Chinoiserie Style

Artist Johann Joachim Kändler (German, 1706-1775)

Manufacturer Meissen Porcelain Manufactory (German, 1710-present)

Place of OriginGermany, Meissen

Date1735

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 18 1/4 × 12 7/8 × 6 5/8 in. (46.4 × 32.7 × 16.8 cm)

MediumPorcelain, decorated with enamel colors.

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

1983.47

Not on View

Label TextThe gifted and prolific modeler J.J. Kändler worked for the Meissen porcelain factory for 44 years, from 1731 to 1775. He created more than 2000 models for porcelain figures, animals, groups, and functional pieces like this sweetmeat stand. It was described in his workbook in May 1735 as an “Indian grotto” with shells and leaves for holding confections. He supplied two separately modeled and detachable male and female seated figures—described as Japanese—so that the factory could make and sell these sweetmeat stands in pairs. Meissen factory documents often use “Indian: and “Chinese” interchangeably for anything Chinese; and although Kändler described his figures as Japanese, the man’s scallop-bordered tunic and trousers are very similar to those of Meissen porcelain figures that were clearly intended as Chinese. The term “sweetmeat” was used for several different types of sweet delicacies, including cakes and pastries, sweets and nuts, and fruit preserved in sugar. They were served in the dessert course of a grand meal.