Of course, it was no easy task to follow in the footsteps of the great porcelain sculptor Franz Anton Bustelli. However, after Dominikus Auliczek had spent years studying in Vienna, Paris, and London, in 1763 he was appointed master sculptor at Nymphenburg. Before being officially named electoral Bavarian court sculptor in 1772, he had created around 100 models. They included this 12-centimetre-tall lion, which, teeth bared, seems to be defending the Bavarian diamond escutcheon. To complement this wild ‘panthera leo’, Auliczek designed a more gentle version in the same year, 1767.