Marcolini period sculpture from the MEISSEN MANUFACTURE; Germany, late 18th century

Marcolini period sculpture from the MEISSEN MANUFACTURE; Germany, late 18th century.
"Girl with jug and cup.
Enamelled porcelain.
With mark.
Measurements: 71 x 45 cm.
Great ornamental sculpture by Meissen, with a round figure standing on an elaborate tripod base, decorated with figures of classical "putti" also in round figures. Made entirely of porcelain, it is decorated with low-temperature enamels applied over the glaze, including gilding. The pedestal stands on feline claw feet and has an architectural structure that is evidence of the advance of neoclassicism. It is adorned with a thick laurel wreath, again clearly neoclassical, and with delicate garlands of hand-worked and applied flowers, which still show the weight of rococo naturalism. The upper figure shows a lady in classical dress, with tunic and mantle adorned with delicate enamelled flowers, crowned and carrying a jug and a small golden cup. The figure is halfway between Rococo and Neoclassicism, with a composition in the classical "contrapposto", but nevertheless endowed with the delicacy, grace and sensuality of Rococo.
This is a sample of Meissen sculpture from the period when the factory was under the direction of Camillo Marcolini, between 1774 and 1814. His direction marked the definitive transition from Rococo to Neoclassicism, and the consequent refinement of the forms and decorations introduced by his predecessor. Meissen pieces of this period were marked with the two crossed swords characteristic of the Manufacture, to which was added a star, all enamelled in underglaze cobalt blue.
The Meissen Manufactory was the first European factory to produce genuine porcelain. Production was started by the scientist Ehrenfried Walther von Tchirnhaus in 1708, and after his untimely death his work was continued by Joahnn Friedrich Böttger, who remained virtually imprisoned on the factory premises in order to protect the secret of the porcelain formula. The production of Meissen porcelain began in 1710, one year after the factory was founded by Augustus the Strong, and soon achieved great fame throughout Europe. In order to prevent forgeries, he introduced his famous mark, two crossed swords, in 1720, making his one of the oldest pottery marks in existence (it still remains on the wares of Meissen's heir firm, the Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GMBH). Initially, Meissen's production imitated oriental production, especially Japanese kakiemon ("indianische Blumen"), although enamelled pieces with landscape, floral and gallant themes were also produced, the latter derived from the paintings of the French painter Antoine Watteau. Undecorated glazed porcelain pieces were also produced and sold to other workshops, where they were decorated with enamels. However, in 1717 a former Meissen worker, Samuel Stöltzel, sold the secret of porcelain to a manufactory in Vienna, and by 1760 there were about thirty manufacturers of genuine porcelain in Europe. However, most of these manufactories produced soft-paste porcelain, due to the difficulty of accessing kaolin, the basic ingredient of genuine (hard-paste) porcelain. After an initial production in the Rococo style, which evolved towards the Neoclassical in the 1750s, the 19th century witnessed a new style known as the "second Rococo", inspired by the early productions of the manufactory, which coexisted with other historicisms, including round sculpture, mainly in enamelled porcelain, following both Rococo and Neoclassical models.