Flower Girl with a Wreath

19th century. Meissen porcelain manufactory. A variation of the model by J. C. Schönheit. 1767. Porcelain, on-glaze decoration

The Mikkel Museum’s pastoral statuettes, “Flower Girl with a Wreath” and “Young Man with A Basket of Flowers”, are 19th-cnetury variations of the figurines created in 1767 by Johann Carl Schönheit (1730-1805). In the 19th century, the Meissen porcelain manufactory produced mainly repetitions of its famous 18th-century rococo and classicist models. The historicist porcelain of the 19th century is characterised by technical perfection, of which the two statuettes are a good example. Compared to the 18th-century models, the statuettes are bigger, and boast several new details: laces, ribbons, open coat flaps, flowers. The rich details proved that the employees of the Meissen manufactory were highly skilled, and the statuettes were displayed at the 1851 World Fair Exhibition in London as examples of the manufactory’s best achievements.

The pair of figurines - “The Great Gardeners” - produced by Meissen throughout the 19th century, turned out to be a bestseller; the porcelain painters of the manufactory varied the looks of the two figures by applying different costume designs.

Young Man with a Basket of Flowers

19th century. Meissen porcelain manufactory. A variation of the model by J. C. Schönheit. 1767. Porcelain, on-glaze decoration

The Mikkel Museum’s pastoral statuettes, “Flower Girl with a Wreath” and “Young Man with A Basket of Flowers”, are 19th-cnetury variations of the figurines created in 1767 by Johann Carl Schönheit (1730-1805). In the 19th century, the Meissen porcelain manufactory produced mainly repetitions of its famous 18th-century rococo and classicist models. The historicist porcelain of the 19th century is characterised by technical perfection, of which the two statuettes are a good example. Compared to the 18th-century models, the statuettes are bigger, and boast several new details: laces, ribbons, open coat flaps, flowers. The rich details proved that the employees of the Meissen manufactory were highly skilled, and the statuettes were displayed at the 1851 World Fair Exhibition in London as examples of the manufactory’s best achievements.

The pair of figurines - “The Great Gardeners” - produced by Meissen throughout the 19th century, turned out to be a bestseller; the porcelain painters of the manufactory varied the looks of the two figures by applying different costume designs.

Versions of the figures in different decoration