Crier with hurdy-gurdy from the Cris de Paris Series
Model by Johann Joachim Kaendler and Peter Reinicke, Meissen 1753/54 / After the model sheet monogrammed and dated by Christophe Huet, impressed number "23"; 14 cm high
The preliminary drawings for the Cris de Paris series—Meissen’s largest figure series—were created by the French painter and designer Christophe Huet. He likely designed them for his brother and business partner, who was one of the leading Parisian porcelain dealers of the time. These drawings were included in the major commission for the 34 Cris de Paris figures and remain in the porcelain manufactory to this day.
The same applies to the almost equally large and simultaneous commission for the Monkey Orchestra, which reflects Huet’s central artistic theme—singeries (monkeys imitating human behavior). Huet’s singerie panels, created for the palaces of Madame de Pompadour, the Prince de Condé, and the Duke of Rohan, are particularly famous.
The preliminary drawing for our figure is number 23.
A comparable figure is housed in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (see Reinheckel in Weltkunst 9, 1992, p. 1164, fig. 10c) / Coll. Shimmerman cat. no. 91