This group of figures belongs to a centrepiece made between 1775 and 1776 as a birthday present for Frederick Augustus III (1750-1827). With almost seven metres in length, it is one of the most impressive creations for the Dresden court in the eighteenth century. At the centre of this arrangement, connected by mirrored bridges, was a multi-tiered group, in which muses and virtues surround the Elector, who is dressed as a Roman commander and garlanded with laurels. The designs were provided by the French modeller Michel Victor Acier (1736-1799), who had just succeeded the late Johann Joachim Kaendler as head of figural design at the Meissen porcelain manufactory. The court jeweller Johann Christian Neuber (1735-1808) was responsible for the postaments of gilded brass and bronze set with local gemstones. The table decoration was completed by two temples dedicated to glory and virtue, respectively. On either side of the central group there were allegorical compositions representing the economy and trade of Saxony on the one hand and the manufactory of the Electorate on the other. The latter is now before us.
Required to report on his progress in regular intervals, Acier provided extremely precise documentation of the entire commission. Thus we learn not only that he completed the work on the present group in July 1776, but also how he himself described it: “Completion of the large group representing all the manufactories of Saxony, commissioned by His Excellency, Count Marcolini, for His Highness, the Elector of Saxony: the main figure represents Saxony. This figure is on an elevation, seated on an antique chair and admiring all the products that surround her. Her posture is distinguished and majestic, her clothing in an antique style. Under her feet is a pillar, which marks her strength in comparison with the other manufactures. [...] In front of her stands the genius of the Meissen manufactory, who presents to her in a box the handsome figure of Minerva, which is to go to the first firing. Also completed is a young man, similarly dressed in an antique costume. This figure represents the cloth and fabric factories located in the region. A young girl dressed in the same style stands in front of [Saxonia] and presents her with lace. And on the reverse are two figures representing the abundance and fertility of all the produce of the land, one holding a laurel wreath, the other a cornucopia of gold and silver coins, pearls and precious stones.”
It is interesting that the modeller himself speaks of “gout antique”. It is particularly evident in the hairstyles and robes of the figures. The broken column shaft and the richly decorated armchair also refer to decorative elements borrowed from ancient objects. The plinth with its lion paws and the friezes known as bead and reel and Vitruvian Scroll follow seamlessly. The greatest role model for Saxony was France, where Louis XVI provided the impulse for an early form of Classicism and from where Acier had moved to Dresden in 1764. The enthusiasm for ancient sculptures was also decisive for the appreciation of the radiant white porcelain figures. Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who worked as a librarian in Nöthnitz near Dresden from 1748 to 1754, played a significant role in igniting it, famously arguing that “a beautiful body [will be] the more beautiful, the whiter it is”.
Text: Alexander Röstel