Equestrian Statuette of King Augustus III of Poland

The statuette rests on a pedestal of wood painted and gilt. Augustus III rides a rearing horse and holds a sceptre set with precious stones. His armour is decorated with scales and winged sphinxes, he wears Roman sandals and is seated on a lion-skin saddle.
Augustus III was crowned King of Poland in 1733. The original model of this statuette (which draws in turn on the large equestrian monument conceived by Johann Joachim Kändler in 1754 and never realized) is exhibited in the collection of the royal palace in Dresden. Replicas of the small monument were also produced in the following century, in memory of the Saxon sovereign who continued the patronage of the royal porcelain factory.