MIESNIA - Royal manufactory, Bulgarian figurine (from series: Fremde Nationen )

porcelain, enamel paints, gilding; small losses of artistic decoration on base and small discolorations of paintwork; height 23.2 cm, base approx.9.7 x 8.5 cm; signed on back of base in cobalt under-glaze. crossed swords (small)
Royal Meissen manufactory, model by J.J. Kaendler and P. Reinicke circa 1748, 1850s.
The rare 18th-century figure of a bearded Bulgarian man wearing a fur cap, orientalist attire and laced paws was created according to a copperplate engraving from the Differentes Nations du Levant series, published in Paris in 1714 according to drawings by Jean-Baptiste van Moura (1671-1737).This Dutch painter made costume drawings of representatives of various nations for Charles de Ferriol, French ambassador to the court of Sultan Ahmed III from 1692 to 1711, accompanying him on a trip to the Ottoman court. Meissen porcelain figurines from this series, sometimes in pairs (paired with a Bulgarian woman figurine), were used as table decorations at court carnival festivals.
An analogous Bulgarian figurine in the collection of the Porzellansammlung in Dresden.