Explore the Collection at Every Angle

In recent conversations with collectors, I kept thinking about how incredible it is to experience holding and seeing a figure. Every angle shows the spectacular modeling and painting. While thinking about this, I wondered how I might be able, with current technology, to share this gift with everyone.

It came into my mind to try 3D scanning some of the collection. A technology that is not at all new, photogrammetry is a scanning technique that uses thousands of images to splice together a three-dimensional model. In recent years, it was used to scan the Titanic wreckage, which is miles under the sea.

I spent hours scanning objects and taking photos from every angle that I could. Mind you, I am no professional, but this type of 3D modeling has become easier and easier with new technology.

View of individual-shaped mesh planes on an object model

One of my favorite examples is the Dutch Dancers figures. This figure, modeled by Eberlein and Kändler in 1735, is truly a figure that needs to be seen in the round. Every angle changes the view. Not only is the painting different, but the swirl of the bodies and the clothes swaying is impossible to see with one photo.

Overhead view of Dutch Dancers

What is even more interesting is that we can strip the image from the model, revealing the figure with no painting. This would have been how it looked before the enamels and gilding. Many Blanc figures were produced for the dessert table of the eighteenth century- something that some historians have theorized could have emulated sugar.

Dutch Dancers with no painting

Follow the link here to see what objects have been scanned from the collection. I will be adding more models in the future, so be sure to check back.

Michael Greenberger