
Fergus Gambon
Director
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Sold for £14,000 inc. premium
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Director
Provenance
Rous Lench Collection, Sotheby's sale, 1 July 1986, lot 188
With Winifred Williams
Christie's sale, 18 May 1992, lot 38
Distinguished Private Collection
Exhibited
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
This group is after a painting by François Boucher for a Beauvais tapestry in the 'Fêtes de Village à l'Italiennes' series, more widely known from a print titled 'La Bonne Aventure' by Pierre-Alexandre Aveline which first appeared in the Mercure de France in April 1738. The figure may have been inspired by the original painting or a copy of it, as it does not appear in reverse like the print, see Elizabeth Adams and David Redstone, Bow Porcelain (1981), p.144. Coloured and white examples of the Fortune Teller were produced at Bow and all are the work of the 'Muses Modeller', whose characteristics are unmistakable. A similar figure sold by Bonhams on 25 March 1977, lot 73 is illustrated by Anton Gabszewicz and Geoffrey Freeman, Bow Porcelain (1982), p.127, no.196. Another is illustrated by Anton Gabszewicz, Made at New Canton (2000), p.89, no.76. See also the example in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. no. MFA61.1282) illustrated by George Savage, 18th Century English Porcelain, pl.44. An example left in the white is illustrated by Adams and Redstone (1981), p.145, pl.70.