Roller (one of a pair) model ca. 1740, mounts mid-18th century Meissen Manufactory German Porcelain birds have their origins in the princely tradition of maintaining collections of living animals and birds in menageries and aviaries, which were viewed as microcosms of the universe, and emblems of royal power and enlightenment. These collections often included exotic birds such as parrots, admired for their rarity, as well as more familiar native species.In 1731 the Meissen manufactory began a new genre in European porcelain, producing several hundred life-size and near-life-size porcelain birds and animals, many destined for the Japanese Palace of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony (1670-1733). To create them, factory modelers found inspiration in nature, looking both to living and stuffed specimens, as well as zoological illustrations and Asian porcelain precedents. The great Meissen modeler Johann Joachim Kändler is known to have copied from life the birds kept at the royal aviar