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The Ashmolean acquires a spectacular addition to its European ceramic collections.
The Ashmolean is delighted with the acquisition of this monumental sculpture, one of the most superb additions ever made to the Museum's European ceramic collections. The figure measures 54.5 cm high and was modelled by one of the geniuses of eighteenth-century European sculpture, Johann Joachim Kaendler, in 1731.
It was part of an extraordinary “menagerie” of hundreds of more-or-less life size porcelain creatures, both domestic and exotic, commissioned by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, for the “Japanese Palace” in Dresden. The fierceness of the bird of prey is eloquently expressed.
Most of the Japanese Palace creatures have remained in Dresden but some, of which this is one, have been sold at various times over the centuries. They are the most ambitious series of porcelain sculptures in the history of ceramics and the Ashmolean is delighted to be able to add such a handsome example to its displays.
Visitors can see the osprey on display in Gallery 51.
It was part of an extraordinary “menagerie” of hundreds of more-or-less life size porcelain creatures, both domestic and exotic, commissioned by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, for the “Japanese Palace” in Dresden. The fierceness of the bird of prey is eloquently expressed.
Most of the Japanese Palace creatures have remained in Dresden but some, of which this is one, have been sold at various times over the centuries. They are the most ambitious series of porcelain sculptures in the history of ceramics and the Ashmolean is delighted to be able to add such a handsome example to its displays.
Visitors can see the osprey on display in Gallery 51.