Details, top to bottom:
As the Meissen painters became less dependent on Asian motifs, their patterns increasingly reflected 18th century European interests. Popular narrative stories from European fables were common themes found on early Meissen porcelain.
A scene on this teapot illustrates the fable of the monkey and the cat, a story in which the hungry monkey used flattery to get the cat to reach into a fire and retrieve delicious roasted chestnuts. Each time the cat scooped out a chestnut, he burned his paw, giving the monkey time to gobble up the treats – illustrating the moral of the story, “the flatterer seeks benefit at your expense.”
