Meissen pair of hares

Circa 1750

Heights: 6 and 6 1/2 in. (15.2 and 16.5 cm.)

Marks: one with crossed swords mark to rear of base

The Konditorei of Count Heinrich von Brühl (1700–63), Prime Minister to Augustus the Strong and Administrator of the Meissen Manufactory from 1733 to 1763, listed ten hares in an inventory of 1 October 1753. They likely were utilized at his hunting lodge for table decoration. 

Other examples include a pair formerly in the collection of Nelson Rockefeller, subsequently Laurance Rockefeller, and finally David and Peggy Rockefeller, originally acquired by Nelson Rockefeller from the Antique Porcelain Company and sold at Christie’s, New York, 8 May 2008, lot 205. Another pair were with Brian Haughton, London, from the Alexander Guttmann and Heinz Weck Collections, illustrated by Melitta Kunze-Köllensperger, Alexanders Tiere: die Sammlung Axel Guttmann,p. 28, no. 6 . Two of the same model are in the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor. Rainer Rückert, in Meissener Porzellan, 1966, illustrates a single example from the Ernst Schneider Collection (no. 1176).