- Museum number
- C412.1
C412.2 - Object
- Teabowl and saucer: The Fox and the Monkey; The Greedy Dog, Meissen Porcelain Factory, hard-paste porcelain, about 1730
- Description
- Tea Bowl, one of a set with saucer C 412.2 and pair with C411.1, 2. German, Meissen, c. 1730. Hard paste porcelain decorated in enamel colours and gilding. The small tea bowl with simple footrim, flaring sides and rim, the outside decorated in enamel colours with one cartouche, containing a scene from Fontaine's Aesop's Fables of the Fox, and Monkey, a landscape in the distance, in a gilt Rococo frame with scrolling acanthus leaves in iron red, around the rest of the cup are three birds in flight in iron red, inside the cup, a landscape of a tree in brick red encircled by two red lines in the base, the rim decorated with gilt scrolling arabesque pattern and solid gilt band, the delicate pattern now substantially worn.
- Materials
- Porcelain
- Inscription
- Mark in red/brown.
- On display?
- Yes
Further description
- Simple name
- Cup
Saucer - Subject
- Mythological
- Dimensions
- regular: 4.0cm (w)
Pair of teabowls and saucers:
The Cat and the Fox; The Lion and the Fox;
The Fox and the Monkey; The Greedy Dog
Meissen Porcelain Factory
Hard-paste porcelain, about 1730
C411 & C412
This group of porcelain by the Meissen factory is decorated with scenes of animals taken from Aesop’s Fables. This famous collection of moral stories is credited to Aesop, an ancient Greek slave and story teller. They were popularised in the seventeenth century by the French poet Jean de la Fontaine (1621–1695).
The Fox and the Monkey
A fox and a monkey were on the road together, and argued about which of them was the better born. They came to a cemetery and the monkey pointed to the tombs and said ‘All the monuments that you see here were put up in honour of my ancestors, who in their day were famous.’ The fox was speechless for a moment, but then he said, ‘Oh! Carry on lying Sir; you’re quite safe: I’m sure none of your ancestors will rise up and expose you.’
Boasters brag most when they cannot be detected.
The Greedy Dog
A dog, was hurrying home with a piece of meat from the butchers. As he crossed a bridge he looked down and saw his reflection in the river. The greedy dog thought he saw another dog with a much bigger piece of meat than his own. Without thinking he dropped his bone and sprang at the dog in the river, only to find himself swimming for dear life. When he scrambled out, wet and with no bone at all he realized what a stupid dog he had been.
It is very foolish to be greedy.
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