TWO LARGE BOUND SLAVES

Description:

Volkstedt, circa 1770
H. 40/41 cm
From a centrepiece. Polychrome painted. Model probably by Wenzel Neu. One with fork mark in purple. The chains partially missing and restored, chipped, partially restored, fire crack with repair.
Jan Ahlers Collection
A ‘Bound slave on a tree stump’ by Wenzel Neu is documented during his brief stay in Volkstedt from mid to late 1762 (see Peters 1991, p. 58) and was produced in two different sizes (cf. the smaller version in TLHR Volkstedt Porcelain 1999, p. 70). The imposing models go back to sculptures by Pietro Tacca on the bronze monument to Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany in Livorno (1623-26), which were already realised in porcelain around 1740 in the Doccia manufactory, but also in Capodimonte and Berlin (cf. Carolsfeld/Köllmann 1974, fig. 137). A faience slave is attributed to Wenzel Neu during his work for the Fulda faience manufactory, see Sattler 1993, p. 92. All figures known in the literature are unmarked. TLHR, Volkstedter Porzellan, no. 44/45