14 FIGURINES FROM THE APE CHAPEL. Meissen. Date: 20th century. Maker/Designer: Model J. J. Kaendler. Technique: Porcelain, enriched in colors and gold. Description: Consisting of: Flute player, 2 singers, drum carrier, triangle player, violinist, bagpipe player, conductor, harpist, horn player, hurdy-gurdy player, monkey with drumsticks, monkey riding with piano, drummer with flute. Measurement: Height 12,5 - 18,5cm. Mark: Swordsmark, once with 4 grinding marks, twice with 2 grinding marks, 3/11/15/19/20/60001/60006/60008/60009/60012-60015/60018. Provenance:Private collection cologne.Literature:- Adams, Len and Yvonne: Meissen Portrait Figures, Leicester 1992, P.188 und 195.- Rückert, Rainer: Meissener Porzellan von 1710-1810. Cat. Nr.1064-1078- www.meissen.com (Stand 04.03.2020)The monkey figurines, dressed in elaborate rococo clothing, parody the upper social class of the 18th century and its allures in a highly exaggerated manner. Historical records suggest that the eccentric apes were inspired in particular by the chapel of Count Brühl. The male monkeys take on the roles of the musicians, while the female monkeys are portrayed as singers.Even though the exact date of origin of the chapel is not precisely documented, the form numbers and a purchase of 19 such figures by Madame de Pompadour suggest that the figurines were developed around 1753. Probably created by Johann Joachim Kaendler and reviewed in 1765/66 with the assistance of Peter Reinicke, the monkeys are considered the "most bizarre classic of the Meissen Baroque" (www.meissen.com).In the middle of the 18th century depictions of monkeys, which in a parodistic way depict human traits, enjoyed great popularity. This genre of the so-called "Singerie" (French "singe" = monkey) was not only interpreted in porcelain, but can also be found in wall and ceiling frescoes or on goblins. There is a presumption that Christophe Hueet's wall paintings in the so-called monkey cabinet of Chantilly Castle may be regarded as a model for the Meissen chapel. Another French model could be a monkey chapel of the Mennecy Manufactory from the 1740s. Another example of a chapel that resembles Kaendler's models for the Meissen manufactory is an alabaster chapel from Venice, made around 1745, that today is exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. 品相报告: Transverse flutist: 11, bossier no. 123 with year mark for 1949, painter no. 11. Transverse flute and hands restored. Decoration rubbed.Singer blue: 60014, bossier no. 122 with year mark for 1987, painter no. 36. Good condition.Triangle player: 60013, 4 grinding strokes, bossier no. 90 with year mark for 1979. Without painter's no. Triangle, triangle stick, right arm, shoulder and back restored.Drum support: 3, bossing no. 93 with year mark for 1949, painter's no. 45. Tassel broken off and replaced.Violinist: 60006, bossier no. 214 with year mark for 1991, painter no. 36. Violin neck broken off and missing. Bagpipe player: 60008, bossier no. 209 with year mark for 1986, painter no. 14. Bagpipe flute broken off. Spinet player: 19, bossierer no. 130 with year mark for 1970, indistinct painter's no. Generally good condition, small burnt crack at the beginning of the right plait.Drummer: 60015, bossier no. 146 with year mark for 1978, indistinct painter's mark. Tail broken off and missing, plait broken off and reattached. Burn marks between the legs.Monkey with drumsticks: 2 grinding strokes, 60012, bossier no. 119 with year mark for 1976, without painter's no. Good condition.Hurdy-gurdy player: 15, bossier no. 102 with year mark for 1966, painter's no. 20. Both arms restored. Head of the hurdy-gurdy restored.Horn player: 60009, bossierer no. 100 with year mark probably for 1974, without painter's no. Good condition.Purple singer: 60018, bossierer no. 129 with year mark for 1976, painter no. 14. Good condition.Harpist: 20, indistinct bossierer no. 149 (?) with year mark for 1949, painter no. 40. Good condition. Conductor: 2 grinding strokes, 60001, bossing no. 136 with year mark for 1986, without painter's no. Both hands broken off and reattached. Scroll broken through once and reassembled.