Clara

There was a mania for the exotic in the 18th century. The first live rhinoceros arrived in Europe in 1741 – a mighty animal from the Bay of Bengal with a thick skin and a horn that reputedly possessed special powers. The animal was shown as a curiosity at fairs and markets and also at royal courts. Peter Anton Verschaffelt, court sculptor for Elector Carl Theodor in the Palatinate, created a large rhinoceros sculpture in 1770 and a model for it to be reproduced in porcelain – at the time for Frankenthaler Porzellanmanufaktur. Around 100 years after this manufactory closed its gates, Nymphenburg revisited these designs. The realisation in biscuit porcelain emphasises the wealth of detail and depth of subtlety to be found in how the surface structure of "Clara" has been worked.