Exclusive Collection Animal figure bear

His passion was devoted entirely to porcelain. At first it arrived at the Saxon court aboard trading ships from East Asia; later it was produced locally in Europe's first porcelain manufactory.

To present his extensive collection in a suitably magnificent setting, Augustus the Strong commissioned the transformation of the Dutch Palace on the right bank of the Elbe in Dresden from 1725 onwards. The building, which subsequently became known as the "Japanese Palace", was intended to fulfil the Elector's dream of a porcelain menagerie. For this ambitious project, he commissioned a large number of animal figures, many of them life-sized.

The exact numbers vary according to historical sources. An inventory from November 1733 records an order for 37 different quadrupeds and 32 species of birds, amounting to a total of 296 animals and 297 birds. This bear, too, was intended to find its place within that remarkable ensemble.

Monumental Meissen sculptures such as this remain unique, and their production continues to present considerable challenges for the manufactory's craftsmen. The bear consists of 30 individual components, assembled by experienced artisans with such precision that the figure appears to have been formed from a single piece.

Johann Gottlieb Kirchner came to Dresden via Freiberg together with his brother Johann Christian Kirchner and worked alongside him as a sculptor. Between 1727 and 1728, and again from 1730 to 1733, Kirchner was active at the Meissen porcelain manufactory as a modeller and, for a time, as chief modeller. His animal figures are distinguished by subtle human characteristics that lend them a distinctive personality.

To this day, monumental sculptures remain among the greatest challenges in porcelain production and have lost none of their enduring fascination.