The faces of these dancing peasants are wonderfully expressive. Their costumes are so realistic, you could almost think they were made of fabric. The men’s braces and hats, called Sennkäppli, identify them as coming from the Alpine region.
However you place them, they seem to relate to each another. Yet they are also very effective as solo figurines.
These little ivory genre figures were directly influenced by festivities at the Baroque court, where the aristocracy and even the royal family enjoyed getting dressed up as peasants. It was a way of breaking out of the strict court etiquette and simply having fun. Dresden high society attended peasant taverns and weddings especially arranged for them – and let their hair down. However, these activities – and even the costumes – had little to do with the harsh realities of peasant life in the eighteenth century.
