The pair are typical of the pipeclay figures produced at the Niderviller factory at the end of the 18th century. The sculptor Charles Gabriel Sauvage, called Lemire (1741-1827), was head of the factory and specialized in sculptural groups of children and peasant subjects (see A. Dawson, A Catalogue of French Porcelain in the British Museum, London, 1994, pp. 283-289).