Small Elephant
Forward-striding elephant, head slightly turned to the left, with an upraised trunk as a symbol of good fortune. On its back, a white saddlecloth adorned with colorful Indian flowers. Small, faint crossed swords mark on the left hind foot.
Model by Johann Joachim Kaendler and Peter Reinicke / Length: 15 cm / Height: 7 cm / Meissen, circa 1745–1747
Provenance: Collection Jahn (641. Lempertz, 12.6.1989, no. 201)
The elephant was part of the major Kaendler exhibition at Wawel Castle, Krakow (Magnificence of Rococo, 2024, no. 78).
The Meissen elephant appears in the reports of Kaendler and Reinicke as follows:
- Feierabend Report, February–March 1741: "a large elephant"
- Corresponding Taxa entry No. 43 (after Rafael): "1 large elephant in its pose, for His Royal Majesty, 6 Thaler"
- Reinicke's Work Report, November 1743: "1 elephant, nine inches high, sculpted in clay with a decorated blanket hanging over it."
- Kaendler’s Work Report, May 1746: "1 model of an elephant, made for the warehouse."
In the catalog 'Alexander’s Tiere' (Guttmann Collection, 1999, p. 78 f.), Kunze-Köllensperger writes about the Meissen elephant:
"As spoils of war, Elector Johann Georg III brought an elephant to Dresden from the Turkish Wars in 1683, but it soon died. Likewise, the expedition that Augustus the Strong sent to Africa between 1730 and 1733 did not bring back an elephant, according to records. As a result, Kaendler had to rely on graphic sources for his model. The depiction by Abraham de Bruyn, after Dürer, from 1583, shows clear parallels to the Meissen animals, particularly in the inaccurate anatomy of the trunk and ears."
Comparable Pieces Include:
- "Alexander’s Tiere," 1999, Nos. 88 & 89
- Collection of Sir Gawaine & Lady Baille, Sotheby’s, 01.05.2013, No. 89
- Patricia Brattig, Meissen – Barockes Porzellan, 2010
- Jahn Collection, 641st Auction, Lempertz, 12.06.1989, Nos. 199–203
