Skip to main content

## Search

My Visit

Donate

Smithsonian Institution

## Site Navigation

- Visit   - Hours and Locations
  - Entry and Guidelines
  - Maps and Floor Plans
  - Dining and Shopping
  - Accessibility
  - Visiting with Kids
  - Group Visits     - Group Sales
- What's On   - Exhibitions     - Current
    - Upcoming
    - Past
  - Today's Events
  - Online Events
  - All Events
  - IMAX & Planetarium
- Explore   - Art & Design
  - History & Culture
  - Science & Nature
  - Collections     - Open Access
  - Research Resources     - Libraries
    - Archives       - Smithsonian Institution Archives
      - Air and Space Museum
      - Anacostia Community Museum
      - American Art Museum
      - Archives of American Art
      - Archives of American Gardens
      - American History Museum
      - American Indian Museum
      - Asian Art Museum Archives
      - Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art
      - Hirshhorn Archive
      - National Anthropological Archives
      - National Portrait Gallery
      - Ralph Rinzler Archives, Folklife
      - Libraries' Special Collections
  - Podcasts
  - Mobile Apps
- Learn   - For Caregivers
  - For Educators     - Art & Design Resources
    - Science & Nature Resources
    - Social Studies & Civics Resources
    - Professional Development
    - Events for Educators
    - Field Trips
  - For Students
  - For Academics
  - For Lifelong Learners
- Get Involved   - Volunteer     - Behind-the-Scenes
    - Digital Volunteers
    - Smithsonian Call Center
    - Visitor Information Specialist
    - Docent Programs
  - Citizen Science
  - Work with Us     - Office of Human Resources       - Working Here
      - Employee Benefits
      - How to Apply
      - Job Opportunities
      - Job Seekers with Disabilities
      - Frequently Asked Questions
      - SI Civil Program
      - Contact Us
    - Affiliations
    - Global Partners
- Support   - About Membership
  - Become a Member
  - Renew Your Membership
  - Make a Gift
- About   - Museums and Zoo
  - Research Centers
  - Cultural Centers
  - Education
  - Our Organization     - Leadership       - Secretary Bunch
      - Advancement
      - Communications
      - Administration
      - Education
      - Museums and Culture
      - Science and Research
    - Board of Regents       - Members
      - Committees
      - Reading Room
      - Bylaws, Policies and Procedures
      - Contact
      - Schedules and Agendas
      - Meeting Minutes
      - Actions
      - Webcasts
    - General Counsel       - Legal History
      - Internships
      - Records Requests         - Reading Room
      - Tort Claim
      - Subpoenas & Testimonies
      - Events
    - Equal Employment Office       - EEO Complaint Process
      - Individuals with Disabilities
      - Special Emphasis Program
      - Supplier Diversity Program         - Doing Business with Us
        - Policies and Procedures
        - Additional Resources
    - Sponsored Projects       - Policies         - Animal Care and Use
        - Human Research
      - Reports
      - Internships
  - Reports and Plans     - Annual Reports
    - Metrics Dashboard       - Dashboard Home
      - Virtual Smithsonian
      - Public Engagement
      - National Collections
      - Research
      - People & Operations
      - One Smithsonian
    - Strategic Plan
  - Newsdesk     - News Releases
    - Media Contacts
    - Photos and Video
    - Media Kits
    - Fact Sheets
    - Visitor Stats
    - Secretary and Admin Bios
    - Filming Requests

# Meissen teapot in the form of a monkey and young

National Museum of American History

                    - Share IconShare Icon                       - 
                      - 
                      - 
                      - 
                      -
                    -                       - 
                      - Print
                      -     DetailsRelatedObject Details- Meissen Manufactory
- Description
- TITLE: Meissen teapot in the form of a monkey with young
- MAKER: Meissen Manufactory
- PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)
- MEASUREMENTS: H. 63⁄4" 17.2cm
- OBJECT NAME: Monkey teapot
- PLACE MADE: Meissen, Saxony, Germany
- DATE MADE: 1735
- SUBJECT: Art
- Domestic Furnishing
- Industry and Manufacturing
- CREDIT LINE: Hans C. Syz Collection
- ID NUMBER: 1984.1140.15
- COLLECTOR/ DONOR: 549
- ACCESSION NUMBER:
- (DATA SOURCE: National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center)
- MARKS: Crossed swords in blue on unglazed base.
- PURCHASED FROM: Adolf Beckhardt, The Art Exchange, New York, 1945.
- This teapot in the form of a monkey with young is from the Smithsonian’s Hans Syz Collection of Meissen Porcelain. Dr. Syz (1894-1991) began his collection in the early years of World War II, when he purchased eighteenth-century Meissen table wares from the Art Exchange run by the New York dealer Adolf Beckhardt (1889-1962). Dr. Syz, a Swiss immigrant to the United States, collected Meissen porcelain while engaged in a professional career in psychiatry and the research of human behavior. He believed that cultural artifacts have an important role to play in enhancing our awareness and understanding of human creativity and its communication among peoples. His collection grew to represent this conviction.
- The invention of Meissen porcelain, declared over three hundred years ago early in 1709, was a collective achievement that represents an early modern precursor to industrial chemistry and materials science. The porcelains we see in our museum collections, made in the small town of Meissen in the German States, were the result of an intense period of empirical research. Generally associated with artistic achievement of a high order, Meissen porcelain was also a technological achievement in the development of inorganic, non-metallic materials.
- Molded in the shape of a monkey mother with two young forming the spout and handle, the model was the work of Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775) and is mentioned in his work book entry for July 1735 (Die Arbeitsberichte des Meissener Porzellanmodelleurs Johann Joachim Kaendler 1706-1775, Edition Leipzig, 2002, p.33). Several of these teapots exist, but most are painted. The cover for the bowl held by the young monkey on its mother’s back is missing.
- Monkeys were a common sight in the palaces and great houses of the eighteenth century. Popular pets, the belts worn by the monkeys in this teapot represent the means by which these animals were secured to a chain. They entertained city and country people at the seasonal fairs and festivals, teased them on the city streets, and performed tricks for their amusement under the direction of their human captors, so making them familiar to people across society. Monkeys were part of the trade in exotic animals from Africa, Central and South America, and Asia, and their fate in Europe was often to sicken and die when separated from their natural habitat in the ownership of Europeans ignorant of their needs.
- The teapot is an example of the popular series of vessels in the form of animals produced by European porcelain and earthenware manufacturers in the eighteenth century, although the zoomorphic vessel has a much longer and distinguished history that can be traced back to antiquity.
- An interesting account of the animal trade is in Robbins, L. E., 2002, Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots: Exotic Animals in Eighteenth-Century Paris.
- For a fine example of a painted version of this piece see Pietsch, U., 2011, Early Meissen Porcelain: the Wark Collectionfrom the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, p. 492.
- Hans Syz, J. Jefferson Miller II, Rainer Rückert, 1979, Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection: Meissen Porcelain and Hausmalerei, pp. 272-273.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ca 1735
- 1735
- ID Number
- 1984.1140.15
- catalog number
- 1984.1140.15
- accession number
- 1984.1140
- collector/donor number
- 549
- Object Name
- teapot
- Physical Description
- hard-paste porcelain (overall material)
- white (overall color)
- monkey teapot (overall style)
- monochrome (overall surface decoration color name)
- Measurements
- overall: 6 3/4 in; 17.145 cm
- overall: 6 3/4 in x 6 3/4 in x 3 1/2 in; 17.145 cm x 17.145 cm x 8.89 cm
- place made
- Germany: Saxony, Meissen
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
- The Hans C. Syz Collection
- Meissen Porcelain: The Hans Syz Collection
- Art
- Domestic Furnishings
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Manufacturing
- Record ID
- nmah_1415437
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-8545-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Related Content-                    The Art and Science of Monkeys                 
-                    Time for Tea                 
  CC0Creative Commons - No Rights Reserved iconUsage Conditions Apply>download icon>          There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .        International media Interoperability FrameworkIIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.View manifestView in Mirador ViewerExpand to view image×                PreviousNext             Footer logo      
Link to homepage
      Footer navigation      - Contact Us
- Accessibility
- Job Opportunities
- Inspector General
- Records Requests
- EEO & Supplier Diversity
- Shop Online
- Host Your Event
- Press Room
- Privacy
- Terms of Use
      Social media links      - Facebook
- Instagram
- Twitter
- YouTube
      Email signup form      Yes, I would like to receive email from the Smithsonian.Deny submitSign up for Smithsonian e-news:        Email powered by BlackBaud (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use)  Back to Top