Meissen, The Four Seasons, J J Kaendler, c.1745-50
 
An Exceedingly Rare & Large Meissen blanc-de-chine group
allegorical of Summer & Autumn from The Four Seasons
modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775)
circa 1745-55
 
Measuring 26 cm (10 inches) in height.
 
Provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal, Canada
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Two swirling and scantily clad putti are paired with a faun to depict 'Summer & Autumn' of 'The Four Seasons' modeled by Johann Joachim Kaendler for Meissen. The naked figure of Summer, seated on a goat's back amidst wheat sheaves, twists to her right, propping her elbow on the rockwork base. In her right hand she carries a sickle. Her hair is drawn into a knot, crowned with two small wheatsheaves held in place by a headband. Below her, in a small nest shielded by ferns sprouting from the base, a partridge protects her eggs.
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Autumn kneels on the base feeding a bunch of grapes to the recumbent goat. His head is crowned with a garland of leaves and grapes, and a tendril bearing bunches of grapes issues from the high-scroll and foliate moulded base with applied scattered leaves and flowerheads.
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In very fine condition. Summer's sicle missing the tip, firing cracks and original plaster filler to the side rockwork on base. Of impressive height and size.
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See associated figural group of Summer & Autumn.
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Red wax collection seal to the flat-bottomed, unglazed base.