Getty Museum

Group of Japanese Figures

Date

about 1745

Medium

Hard-paste porcelain, polychrome enamel decoration, and gilding; gilt-bronze mounts

Culture

German

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

An entry dated *20th November 1745* in the workbook of Johann Kändler, the Meissen porcelain manufactory's chief modeler, describes the model for this piece: "A large Japanese group, with a pagod [man] seated on a green bank, next to him a Japanese woman who holds a sunshade over his head, close to him a parrot, which he feeds." One of only two known examples, this brightly colored porcelain group is characteristic of the whimsical European view of Asia in the 1700s. The exoticism of the Far East fired the imaginations of European craftsmen, who mixed elements of Japanese and Chinese style to create a new type of decoration known as *chinoiserie.* Here "Japanese" figures wear robes decorated with fancifully drawn *Indianische Blumen* (East Indies flowers) and carry an ornate parasol decorated with a dragon.

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.