Mythological Meissen figurine group "Venus with Cupid". Unclothed goddess Venus standing on a moulded plinth, her right leg resting on a pedestal. Her gaze is directed towards the ground, her parted, wavy hair tied in an antique style and adorned with a red hoop. Cupid stands on the pedestal to her right, carrying a quiver and bow. Polychrome painting with gold staffage. Designed by Ernst Julius Hähnel, 1881, mark; model no. L 156, remainder; crossed swords mark. H. 43.5 cm. Ernst Julius Hähnel settled in Dresden in 1838 at the instigation of Gottfried Semper, who commissioned him to design several figures for the court opera. In 1848 he was appointed professor at the Dresden Academy of Art. His imposing depictions are characterised by a distinctive neoclassical-realist formal language. The Meissen manufactory moulded Hähnel's figures in porcelain on a smaller scale. See Jedding, Meissen Porcelain of the 19th and 20th Centuries, p. 148. A large mythological porcelain figure group of Venus and Cupid modelled by E. J. Hähnel. Restored. Crossed swords mark. Meissen. Circa 1900.