This late 19th century Meissen porcelain group takes its cue from the model by M.V. Acier and J.C. Schönheit of 1772, and depicts five figures around a central rock formation all engaged in various acts relating to gardening and flowers. The central figure, atop the rocks, offers a flower out of a basket to a lady to his right, while three other figures circling them tend to their work with an assortment of gardening tools. The piece, with its delightfully balanced round composition, is mounted on a small classical frieze that is heightened with gilding. It stands 30cm high, and has the crossed-swords mark in underglaze-blue, the incised model number D97 (indistinct).
Provenance: sold at Bonhams New Bond Street, 12th May 2004, lot 137. See T.H. Clarke, Meissen Marcolini Figures Engraved by Friedrich Elsasser 1785-1792, in Mitteilungsblatt der Keramikfreunde der Schweiz (103) 1988, no. 20.