A rare Meissen figure of Nimrod circa 1750-1755 emblematic of Assyria from the series of the Four

A rare Meissen figure of Nimrod circa 1750-1755 emblematic of Assyria from the series of the Four Monarchies, modelled by J.J.Kandler, the biblical figure rendered with a recumbent winged lion at his feet, wearing an exotic belt and elaborate harness and headdress standing on a scroll-moulded base crossed swords in underglaze-blue 21cm., 8.25;in. restored Kandler modelled the set of four allegorical figures representing the four monarchies of the ancient world, Assyria, Persia, Greece and Rome, around 1750. The inventory of Count Bruhl's Conditorei of 1753 includes the Four Monarchies, and Zimmermann records (Meissner Porzellan, p.237) that the Monarchies were amongst the porcelain Friedrich II of Prussia seized or purchased during the Seven Years War. The monarchies appear in the manufactory price list of 1765, and Kandler reworked the figures in February 1767. See E.Pauls-Eisenbeiss, German Porcelain of the 18th Century, vol.I, pp.152-157, for the set of four figures in the Pauls Collections, Basel, and E. Kramer, 'Die Vier Monarchien' in Keramos, 28, 1965, pp.3-27, for a discussion of the origins of the Four Monarchies in the Old Testament as well as their depiction in porcelain at Meissen and Kloster Veilsdorf.. A painted figure of Alexander the Great from the series was sold in these rooms, 29th June 2004, lot 41