Centaur With Seashell 26 cm

Meissen's huge archive of moulds can be likened to an encyclopædia covering more than 300 years of the history of European art and culture. Moulds for some 25,000 different items from the most diverse of epochs and styles are stored here, allowing Manufactory artists to reproduce almost any gem from the past with utter fidelity even today. Take, for instance, this figure group modelled in 1865, a superlative specimen of the historicist style that predominated at the Manufactory at the time. In a manner so typical of the movement, it incorporates symbols from Greek mythology such as the part-man, part-horse centaur, allegorical features such as the small cherub with sword, and a dish in the form of a seashell.