Complete Meissen monkey chapel. 22-piece; 21 standing and seated figures of a bandmaster with music stand, flautist, violinist, bass violinist, clarinettist, pianist, bagpiper, bassoonist, triangle player, guitarist, drummer, timpani player, trumpeter, French horn player, a harpist, hurdy-gurdy player and four female singers on a rocaille base in relief. Polychrome painting with gold staffage. Designed by Johann Joachim Kaendler and Peter Reinicke. Centreboard mark. H. 9 cm - 17 cm. As early as 1753, Kaendler designed an ensemble of monkey figures playing music in colourful clothing with an affected expression for Madame de Pompadour, which he reworked in collaboration with Peter Reinicke around 1765/1766. Depictions of animals with human characteristics and behaviour enjoyed great popularity in the 18th century, not least because of the great interest in fable poems, especially in the so-called "Singeries" by French artists, which showed curious, scenic depictions of monkeys acting humanly in various situations. Cf. Rückert, cat. Bayer. Nationalmuseum, p. 192, Sonntag, Affenkapelle aus Meissener Porzellan, p. 29ff. A complete 22-piece collection of porcelain figures from the "monkey orchestra" modelled by J. J. Kaendler and P. Reinicke. Crossed swords mark. Meissen. 20th cent.