The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Figure of a Monkey on a Dog

c. 1745

manufacturer

Mennecy- Villeroy Factory

(French)

France, Mennecy, 18th century

soft-paste porcelain with enamel decoration

Overall: 15.9 cm (6 1/4 in.)

Gift of Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. 1953.269

Location: 216A French and German

Did You Know?

This monkey may have once held a stick in its outstretched left hand.

Description

Images of this type, monkeys dressed in human clothing and engaged in human pursuits, were called singeries and were represented in 18th-century French painting and decorative art. This particular figurine was based on a book of engravings that provided designs for contemporary craftsmen and was published by animal painter Christopher Huet in 1748.

(Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc., New York).
Honey, William Bowyer. French Porcelain of the 18th Century. London: Faber and Faber, 1950. p. 22
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 140 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 140 archive.org
Jedding, Hermann. Europäisches Porzellan. München: Keysersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1971. p. 258; no. 796
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 182 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum, 1991. p. 112
Dawson, Aileen. "The Development of Repertoire in Mennecy Porcelain Sculpture, circa 1738-65." Metropolitan Museum Journal 37 (2002). p. 203
{{cite web|title=Figure of a Monkey on a Dog|url=false|author=Villeroy Factory, Mennecy- Villeroy Factory|year=c. 1745|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.269