Sea ​​wonder

Sea ​​wonder, probably Germany, before 1725. Baroque pearl, diamonds, silver, cold painted, red mass, gilt brass pedestal. H 10.4 cm. Green Vault, VI 169. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

According to the inventory, the figure sitting on a "gilded brass gilded post" was "poussed" by a mass, presumably composed of red bolus, wax and natural resins. It was very likely that the still soft material was used to form the body into which the fins made of silver plate were inserted. Subsequently, the white primer and colored version of the mass, as well as the silver fins. On the red back are painted with white lines scales, while the belly and the chest are provided with fine black Strichelungen on whitish-yellow ground. Even the head, which consists of a large pearl and bears small eyes made of silver-clad diamonds, shows traces of red and black cold paint on the mouth and nose. In the shy-looking mythical animal, The inventory referred to as the "miracle of the sea", a marvelous creature of the sea, is a finned fantasy that is reminiscent of a dog, especially in the form of the head and the true-hearted gaze. It forms the counterpart to the similarly manufactured siren (VI 152), which is also mounted on a simple brass parapet. Fantasy creatures of this kind belonged to the figurine arsenal of the popular at that time in Dresden puppet theater, in which "marionettes or large one and a half cubits high figures all kinds of comedy, tragedies, ballets, shepherds, different dances, machines, airframes, all sortszsame sea = miracle = animals and funny harlequinades "were presented. It is a fins-equipped fantasy that is reminiscent of a dog, especially in the form of the head and the true-hearted gaze. It forms the counterpart to the similarly manufactured siren (VI 152), which is also mounted on a simple brass parapet. Fantasy creatures of this kind belonged to the figurine arsenal of the popular at that time in Dresden puppet theater, in which "marionettes or large one and a half cubits high figures all kinds of comedy, tragedies, ballets, shepherds, different dances, machines, airframes, all sortszsame sea = miracle = animals and funny harlequinades "were presented. It is a fins-equipped fantasy that is reminiscent of a dog, especially in the form of the head and the true-hearted gaze. It forms the counterpart to the similarly manufactured siren (VI 152), which is also mounted on a simple brass parapet. Fantasy creatures of this kind belonged to the figurine arsenal of the popular at that time in Dresden puppet theater, in which "marionettes or large one and a half cubits high figures all kinds of comedy, tragedies, ballets, shepherds, different dances, machines, airframes, all sortszsame sea = miracle = animals and funny harlequinades "were presented. It forms the counterpart to the similarly manufactured siren (VI 152), which is also mounted on a simple brass parapet. Fantasy creatures of this kind belonged to the figurine arsenal of the popular at that time in Dresden puppet theater, in which "marionettes or large one and a half cubits high figures all kinds of comedy, tragedies, ballets, shepherds, different dances, machines, airframes, all sortszsame sea = miracle = animals and funny harlequinades "were presented. It forms the counterpart to the similarly manufactured siren (VI 152), which is also mounted on a simple brass parapet. Fantasy creatures of this kind belonged to the figurine arsenal of the popular at that time in Dresden puppet theater, in which "marionettes or large one and a half cubits high figures all kinds of comedy, tragedies, ballets, shepherds, different dances, machines, airframes, all sortszsame sea = miracle = animals and funny harlequinades "were presented.
Source: http://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2013/08/26/27899124.html