It is thought that the prestigious Meissen designer Johann Joachim Kaendler drew the inspiration for his teapot in the form of a reclining cockerel from a Chinese model he found in the royal collection in Dresden.
In his workshop notes from May 1734 he described his model with the tail feathers as a handle and the head as a spout. Crouching on the lid is a small rabbit. He also created another version, which was closer to the Chinese original in that the cock’s head was turned backwards, necessitating a hole in the neck as a small spout.