Oliver Cornish
Sale Coordinator for Furniture, Sculpture, Rugs & Tapestries
Lot 48
After Louis-François Roubiliac (French, 1702-1762): A patinated bronze bust of 'The Laughing Child' Probably French, second half 18th century
3 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£1,000 - £1,500
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Helena Gumley
Head of Sale Carpets and Tapestries
After Louis-François Roubiliac (French, 1702-1762): A patinated bronze bust of 'The Laughing Child'
Probably French, second half 18th century
The infant with head turned slightly to sinister with wavy hair, on an integral waisted swept circular socle base, 31cm high overall
The infant with head turned slightly to sinister with wavy hair, on an integral waisted swept circular socle base, 31cm high overall
Footnotes
The offered lot is cast after the work 'The Laughing Child' attributed to Louis François Roubiliac. Celebrated for his expressive bronzes, Roubiliac likely modelled the bust in the mid 1740s when it was produced by the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, and it seems probable that he created a pendant bust of a crying child sometime later in the decade. These two bust subsequently became a popular subject in marble, porcelain, and bronze. It is possible that Roubiliac produced the pendant as a homage to the Greek philosophers Heraclitus (the weeping one) and Democritus (the laughing one), who were themselves a popular artistic theme during the Baroque era.
A comparable bust of 'The Laughing Child', together with its pendant 'The Crying Child', dated to circa 1750 with possible later bronze mounts, is now held in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.