Shepherd group of a couple under a tree

Description

Our group is made a little later than the model year 1738. The decoration comes very close to the group without a tree in the King Collection (Christie's 05.05.1914 no. 298). Because of its similarity we date it to about 1741/42. The stylized flowers of the ‘andrienne’ also speak for this time. They are to be settled between ‘Indian’ and ‘European’ flowers. At that time, the fashion of the ‘Indian’ flowers began to end.

The so called group ‘Schäfer und Schäferin küssen sich unter einem grünen Baum’ was one of Kaendler’s earliest shepherd groups. He created it in 1738, as can be concluded from the early form number (records of work or ‘Taxa’ are missing). The figure enjoyed great popularity, so Kaendler already in the beginning of 1742 created a second version, without a tree. This second version is mentioned in Kaendler’s Taxa (Rafael, J.: „Zur »Taxa Kaendler«.“ In Keramos 203 / 204 2009 no. 117 p. 55):

‘1 group depicting a lady neatly dressed in an andrienne and a shephered well clad in his costume embracing each other, alongside with a little sheep.’

Kaendler was inspired by the engraving ‘Bergère et son mouton sur son berger’ from the series 'Quatrième Livre de sujet et pastorales' by the Parisian engraver Gabriel Huquier (1725 - 1805). The engraving again follows a painting by François Boucher (1703 - 1770).

Literature

Rafael, Johannes: Zur »Taxa Kaendler«. in Keramos 203 / 204 2009

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