San Francisco Ceramic Circle

Illustrated Lecture

"Meissen Porcelain Figural Sculptures:Dating techniques and interpretation of early models by Kaendler"

by

Angela Gräfin von Wallwitz

Dealer and Author, Munich, Germany

8.00 PM Thursday, 8th November 2007

The Constance and Henry Bowles Porcelain Gallery

Palace of the Legion of Honor. Lincoln Park, San Francisco

Enter from the West Terrace from 7.30 PM

About the speaker: After leaving Sotheby's Angela Grfin von Wallwitz set up her own business in London in 1987 and has traded from an office in the center of Munich since 2000. She specializes in fine and early Continental pottery and porcelain dating from the period 1450 - 1850 , and particularly in ceramics that show the individuality and spirit of the artist. An appraiser for the German Chamber of Commerce, she also organizes courses for the attribution, dating, care and handling of silver, glass , furniture and ceramics.

Her publications include:
Exhibition Catalogue, London 1987
Exhibition Catalogue, London 1991
Meissen - Porcelain for Gentlemen, Munich 2005 (including research on Boettger fakes, the culture of dining, the dating of Meissen elelphants etc)
Meissen - Celebrating Kaendler, Munich 2006, A Private Collection of Meissen Figures (incl. research on dated figures and Kaendlers critical symbolism).

About the Lecture : 2006 marked the 300th anniversary of the birth of Johann Joachim Kaendler ( 1706 - 1775 ). Kaendler was one of the most influential artists of the18th century. In 1736 he invented porcelain sculpture as a new art form and a satirical answer to the small bronze and ivory sculptures of the Renaissance and the Baroque. His figures depicted amorous events from the theater world, court festivities and the Venice Carnival. Comparative research of dated Meissen figures has revealed sequential changes within theÝ first ten years of production of a new model. Based on this knowledge it is now possible to date the different casts, understand their changing symbolism and explain the impact on the quality as well as on the prices these models now achieve at sales. Comparisons with the work of Bustelli at Nymphenburg and others will be discussed..