An extremely rare Meissen Cat modelled by J.J.Kaendler, seated on its haunches, looking to one side, the tail curled out in front and the right paw raised up to the face, beautifully decorated and very finely painted in tones of brown and ginger, the ears pricked up and alert eyes wide open, raised up on a green pad base.

The model and its companion are first recorded in Kaendler’s taxa report for sept 1736, which lists: ‘Stuk Kleine Katzgen aufs Lager in Thon poussiert, Davon eine sitzend, die andere aber, wie sie eine Maus in Maule hat vorgestellet ist.’ (2 small cats modelled in clay in the storehouse, of which one is seated, the other with a mouse in the mouth). See Carl Albiker, Die Meissner Porzellantiere in 18. Jahrhundert, Berlin, 1959, p 24, no. 216 for the companion holding a mouse and work record entries for 1736, 1741, and 1740-1748 relating to both models. A very similar example of the model in the collection of Sir Gawaine and Lady Bailey. Leeds Castle.

Dimensions:   Height: 7 ¾ ins. (18.3cms

Marks:   Cross swords mark in underglaze blue. Impressed no. 34