Eagle owl ca. 1735 Meissen Manufactory German This figure of an eagle owl belongs to a large group of porcelain mammals and birds ordered for one of the Saxon royal palaces in Dresden, Germany. Known as the Japanese Palace, the building was intended to house the vast porcelain collection of Augustus II (1670-1733), the elector of Saxony and King of Poland. Augustus was a voracious collector of both Chinese and Japanese porcelains in the early eighteenth century, and his interest in Asian ceramics led to his establishment of the Meissen factory near Dresden in 1710. The early production at Meissen was strongly influenced by Augustuss Chinese and Japanese porcelains, and the designs for the interiors of the Japanese Palace incorporated both Asian and Meissen examples.In 1730, Augustus initiated a commission for large-scale animals that would be displayed in the Japanese Palace. The original order called for almost six hundred creatures in sizes approximating, when possible, the subjects