This porcelain kettle on a stand is decorated in the Rococo style, which became fashionable around the middle of the 18th century, characterised by asymmetry, natural motifs and scrollwork. The kettle is painted with picturesque scenes in the style of Antoine Watteau, a French painter who had a great influence upon the Rococo style through his fêtes galantes paintings that combined reality and fantasy, lavish costumes and rural settings. The Meissen manufactory purchased a number of his engravings in 1741 and these were used as a design source for the decoration of the porcelain produced at the manufactory. This kettle retains its original ormolu-mounted handle and burner.
