Footnotes

• This model is the reverse image of the Meissen figure known as 'The Marquis' from the 'Cris de Paris' series, modelled by Peter Reinicke based on drawings by Christophe Huet. The Marquis and his lady companion called 'The Courtesan' seem curious additions to a set of street traders, but it is believed they depict a madam and a pimp. For the original Meissen versions and the original source drawing see L and Y Adams, Meissen Portrait Figures (1987,) p.115. A Meissen example of The Marquis was sold in these rooms on 14 November 2007, lot 176.
  
  Chelsea copied many figures directly from Meissen prototypes. Initially Nicholas Sprimont, the proprietor of the Chelsea factory, arranged to borrow Meissen examples from the collection of Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams who had been the British Envoy to the Saxon Court in Dresden. Hanbury-Williams had been presented with a collection of Meissen figures by Augustus III, which he stored at Holland House in Kensington. A surviving letter to Sir Charles of 12th August 1751 from Sir Edward Fawkener, secretary to the Duke of Cumberland, confirms that Meissen pieces were borrowed and copied. Meissen's figure of The Marquis was probably created in 1753 and so the prototype for the present lot could not have been part of the original Hanbury-Williams figure collection. Other porcelain makers copied Meissen's Marquis and Courtesan, including Bow. A Doccia example of this model was sold in these rooms on 9 December 2009, lot 53.

---

Category: Decorative Arts / British Ceramics

---

Auction terms and conditions