Lot Essay
Philippe-Laurent Roland (1746-1816) was one of Augustin Pajou's favorite pupils, first entering into his studio in 1764. Roland's celebrated marble bust of Pajou shows clearly the debt owed to the master (it has been called 'the last of the beautiful French busts of the eighteenth century', see J. D. Draper and G. Scherf, Augustin Pajou, Royal Sculptor: 1730-1809, New York, 1997, no. 150). The similarities between the present bust and several of Pajou's terracotta busts of children, are many -- in particular an Unidentified Boy in a private collection is especially close (see J. D. Draper and G. Scherf, op. cit., fig. 145).