Lot 237 | Meissen | Allegory "Painting"

ALLEGORY "PAINTING".

Meissen.
Date: Before 1924.
Maker/Designer: Model M.V. Acier.
Technique: Porcelain, enriched in colours and gold.
Description: Three putti grouped on a stone base, gathered around an easel. In front of the easel,
sitting cross legged on a stool, putto with colour palette and brush. Another putto
sitting at his feet, another with a sketchbook under his arm, bent over the canvas, which
shows an already half-finished painting of another putto.
Measurement: Height approx. 19cm.
Mark: Swordsmark, (N?)5.

The design for this group belongs to the models of the so-called 'Great Russian Order'. The 40 small sculptures were commissioned in 1772 for Empress Catherine II by Kaendler, who provided all the designs. Michel Victor Acier was subsequently called in as a modeller for the mouldings. The figurines were intended to decorate a cabinet in a pavilion in the garden of Oranienbaum Palace near St. Petersburg.
The 'painting' is one of eight allegories that refer to Catherine's role as a patron of the arts and sciences.