Model Number: F 235 (A1006)
Modeled c.1919 by Paul Scheurich
Scheurich’s background as a graphic artist is evident in his close attention to detail on both the dandy and the lady: they are drawings translated into porcelain. The dandy derives from illustrations by Scheurich of 1912 for an edition of Jean Paul’s ‘Doktor Katzenbergers Badreise’ in which all the men are depicted in Biedermeier costume. In particular, the character of the conceited playwright Theudobach appears to have been the model for the dandy. Scheurich depicted both characters in later illustrations, as well as the lady in the group ‘Geschwister’, albeit in a different costume.
Scheurich offered the model of the dandy to the Meissen manufactory in November 1916, though it took another three years until it was produced in porcelain. The manufactory requested a pair to the figure, which Scheurich had not planned, and so he reworked the plaster model of the dandy and created the figure of the lady to go with it, which the manufactory purchased in October 1917 (both figures cost RM 3,000). Delays caused by the war and Scheurich’s illness in late 1917/early 1918 meant that the Scheurich’s designs for the colouring were only delivered in August 1918, and the first painted examples were produced in May 1919.