Höchst porcelain group “Ziegenmelkerin”

Höchst porcelain was extremely sought after in the Netherlands, as is evidenced by the ready sale of its wares over a long period of time in that country. The German porcelain factory had a network of showrooms in Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Elten. Of the thirty-eight salesmen who travelled on behalf of the factory, no less than twelve came from the Netherlands.

One of the most successful salesmen was Johann Georg Dazen who sold Höchst porcelain in Delfshaven. Local consumers were spoilt for choice: 5-piece garnitures competed in popularity with tableware and sculptural groups. So it is not surprising that examples of eighteenth century Höchst porcelain, including the present were a regularly feature in old Dutch collections.

The present group contains a pastoral scene of two children, a boy and a girl, milking a goat. The popular pastoral groups by Höchst, dating approximately to 1770, closely followed the French fashion of the day. Children dressed to resemble a shepherd and his shepherdess, set in an idyllic pastoral scene represented the fashionable ideal of the French Court at that time. It symbolized an escape from the rigid Court etiquette that was all encompassing like an iron harness. Children with their unrestricted and natural behavior were inter alia a source of admiration not only for the French philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but also for the painters, Boucher and Greuze.

Like the highly popular Wedgwood and German stoneware, Höchst porcelain is regarded as being virtually a part of Dutch cultural heritage.

Provenance: model J.P. Melchior (1770 – 1775).

Literatuur: Johann Peter Melchior, Gelsenkirchen. cat. 1997, afb. 44.