SECOND HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY ITALIAN

The present models were made in soft paste porcelain by the Bow factoey. Examples are known in the Katz Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and in the British Museum, London. See also Adams and Redstone, Bow Porcelain, plate 122; Bradshaw, Bow Porcelain Figures, plate 56; and the British Museum Catalogue, 18th Century English Porcelain, p. 26, no. 31 for other examples. A similar pair from 'A Distinguished Collection of White Porcelains' was sold Sotheby's London, 15 June 1994, lot 138.

Curiously, the present animals would appear to be of hard paste porcelain. As the English factories working in hard paste in the 18th century are not known to have made figures, a Continental origin is presumed, with Italy the most likely source.