Meissen Porcelain Animals
Getty Conversations


A Fox with a Chicken and A Turkey were part of a menagerie of over 500 life-sized porcelain animals commissioned by Augustus II “The Strong.”

A Fox with a Chicken, c. 1732, Johann Gottlieb Kirchner, Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, hard-paste porcelain with traces of oil paint, 46 x 34 x 20 cm (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) and A Turkey, c. 1733, Johann Joachim Kändler, Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, hard-paste porcelain, 53.5 x 51 x 20 cm (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles). Speakers: Jeffrey Weaver, Associate Curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts, J. Paul Getty Museum and Steven Zucker, Executive Director, Smarthistory

Imagine a menagerie of over 500 life-sized porcelain animals displayed in a long gallery in a palace in Dresden. A Fox with a Chicken was a part of this new creation commissioned by Augustus II “The Strong” in the 18th century to share his love for Japanese porcelain with others.

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Cite this page as: Jeffrey Weaver and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Meissen Porcelain Animals
Getty Conversations," in Smarthistory, May 17, 2023, accessed March 18, 2024, https://smarthistory.org/meissen-porcelain-animalsgetty-conversations/.