Tailor & His Wife

This is a pair of figurines made by Derby around 1775. They are of a Welsh Tailor sitting on a goat as well as his wife sitting on another goat. He has all his tailoring equipment attached and is wearing a basket with baby goats on his back while she has two small baskets attached to the side of the goat with food in it and is wearing a basket on her back with two babies in it while a third baby is in her lap next to her exposed breast.

The figurines are based on a Meissen original where the story goes as follows: Count Heinrich Brühl was minister and favorite to Augustus III. He was appointed administrator of the Meissen factory from 1733 to 1763. By tradition Brühl was a man famed for his fashion sense. His tailor was thus an important part of his entourage. However, when the tailor's ambitions made him ask for an invitation to dine at court, the Count found the suggestion beyond the pale and well above the tailor's station. To put him in his place, the Count requested Kändler to make a figure of the tailor which he could place on his table and thus fulfill his empty promises. Kändler's undoubted satiric wit and sense of the ridiculous is here preserved.

The pair displays superbly but has some damage/restoration. He is missing the tip of his scissors in his right hand which were previously restored, the left horn of the goat is restored, his right arm was off and so was his head I believe. The restoration work is very well done. She has had the left ear of the goat restored, the left horn is missing the tip, her left arm was off, the tail was restored, her left leg is restored, the left basket is missing its handle and an item is missing the top in it plus I believe that a little baby goat that was nursing in the back is gone as well. The restoration is well done as well but the white parts have yellowed and the restorer was a little ambitious and the spray hit the areas around the restoration as well which was not necessary! But like I said they display superbly and are so much fun! The figurines are the smaller version being about 5.5 inches tall, 4 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. They are marked with the incised No 62 as well as a size remark, a triangle and some other mark. Unusually well marked really! Please email me for more information or other pictures.