Meissen Monkey Band
This comic group of figures of monkey musicians, and a larger excited conductor, in 18th century costumes, was first modelled for the famous Meissen manufactory by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1764). In all there were twenty-one different figures that could be purchased to make up an orchestra.
Such figures were used as table decorations, with a figure placed adjacent to each place setting. Keeping up with current fashions, Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764), the mistress of King Louis XV of France and a discerning patron of the arts, ordered a set at Christmas 1753. Making fun of the court orchestra, the figures would have provided an amusing topic of conversation around the dinner table. A witty example of 18th century ‘singerie’, with monkeys literally ‘aping’ human behaviour, they may have been inspired by Christopher Huet’s La Grande Singerie murals of monkeys dressed as humans, painted at the Chateau de Chantilly, France, in 1737.
Collectable from the outset, the Monkey Band was widely copied by other German porcelain factories. Merton’s Monkey Band was probably made in Germany, but the factory mark, which resembles the ‘cross swords’ mark used by Meissen, cannot be conclusively identified. Meissen introduced a signature logo, the ‘crossed swords’, to protect its production in 1720. However, many factories imitated, the ‘crossed swords’ mark. Merton was particularly fond of Meissen style figures and you will find other examples in the Drawing Room.
