Meissen Porcelain Manufactory (German, 18th century)

Ecuelle and Stand

Porcelain
Gift of Miss Constance I. and Ralph H. Wark
AG.2000.2.147

This ecuelle (a small covered bowl for soup) and stand reveal the scope of the Meissen Manufactory’s design work. In the middle years of the 18^th century, illustrators shifted from fanciful depictions of life in China to motifs that reflected Europe’s interest in the natural sciences, particularly the investigation and classification of animals. Here, the artist combined images of a turkey with European songbirds and insects.