Lady with attendant

Art Historical Context

This exquisite porcelain figurine, *Lady with Attendant*, crafted around 1740 by the renownedissen Manufactory under the masterful modeling of Johann Joachim Kändler, exemplifies the pinnacle of early European porcelain artistry. Collaborating with designs inspired by François Boucher and engravings by Laurent Cars, it captures the elegance of Rococo style—playful, ornate, and refined. Standing just 7¼ inches tall, the hard-paste porcelain, enhanced by a gilt-bronze mount,ams with intricate polychrome enamels and gilding, showcasing Meissen's revolutionary technique that rivaled prized Chinese imports. Meissen, based in Germany, pioneered hard-paste porcelain in Europe from 1710, enabling durable, translucent sculptures that became status symbols for 18th-century aristocracy. Kändler's dynamic figures, often depicting everyday luxuries like tea drinking amid flowers, brought porcelain into the realm of high sculpture, blending technical innovation with whimsical narrative. Evoking intimate social rituals, this piece likely portrays a fashionable lady and her attendant in a moment of tea service, surrounded by floral motifs—a nod to the era's obsession with leisure and exotic imports. Now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gifted by Irwin Untermyer in 1964, it invites visitors to savor the delicate charm of Enlightenment-era opulence.