Figure of a girl, sleeping boy and a dog

This delicate figurine of a girl, a sleeping boy, and a dog, was made in Höchst, Germany, from porcelain. The finery of the children’s clothing gives us a strong indication of the social class that this group inhabits. During this period, porcelain production was often closely associated with aristocratic patronage. Figures like these would have served a primarily decorative purpose. The work's creation at Höchst, a factory with a history of financial instability and changing ownership, points to the economic context that shaped its production. To fully understand a work like this, we might turn to period sources, such as costume and design history, or archival records from the factory itself. These sorts of resources provide the means to more fully appreciate the relationship between art, institutions, and social life.