Jays and squirrels scamper to life across Kaendler creations for Meissen
In his workshop records for the period October 1739 to January 1740, Johann Joachim Kaendler, Meissen’s most accomplished modeller, noted his creation of a “life-sized jay sitting on a trunk, naturally depicted, next to him is a life-sized squirrel seated on a branch, modelled in clay, along with other appropriate ornamentation”.
The ornamentation he mentions includes acorns, oak leaves, fruits, mushrooms and a stag-beetle, as…