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Lot 166*

A Sèvres biscuit group of 'Les Buveurs de Lait', circa 1759

Amended
18 June 2014, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £1,750 inc. premium

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A Sèvres biscuit group of 'Les Buveurs de Lait', circa 1759

Modelled by Étienne-Maurice Falconet, a boy seated on rockwork drinking from a bowl of milk, another child standing on tiptoes tugging on his arm, two baskets at their feet, on a rockwork base, 17.8 cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
With William H. Lautz, New York;
Private collection, Seattle, acquired from the above in 1964

The model is based on an engraving after a drawing by Boucher. In fact, two engravings depicting the subject matter exist, one by Boucher himself from 1735, the other by Jean Daullé, which is very similar to the Sèvres model.

Other examples of the model are in the Blanche M. Harnan Ceramic Collection of the Seattle Art Museum and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, illustrated in Falconet à Sèvres ou l'art de plaire, exhibition catalogue (2002), no. 50.

The New York dealer, William Lautz, regularly supplied the members of the Seattle Ceramic Society with large quantities of porcelain, which included prominent collectors, such as Martha L. Isaacson (1901-2000). See Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain 1710-50 (2008), p.107, for a discussion on the Ceramic Society and porcelain collecting in Seattle.

Saleroom notices

Please note, the basket at the back may have had a handle, which has broken off.

Additional information

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