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Lot Essay
Jean-Jacques Caffieri was the son of the famous ciseleur and bronze worker, Jacques Caffieri, and the brother of Philippe Caffieri. He began as a pupil of his father and of J. B. Lemoyne, and executed numerous portrait busts in marble and terracotta.
A nearly identical version of the present bronze is in the Wallace Collection and has slight variations in the position of the figures and the shape of the base. It is signed by Caffieri and dated 1777. The terracotta model for this group was exhibited in the Salon of 1771 (see Wallace Collection Catalogues: Sculpture, London, 1981, p. 80-81, fig. S219).
A nearly identical version of the present bronze is in the Wallace Collection and has slight variations in the position of the figures and the shape of the base. It is signed by Caffieri and dated 1777. The terracotta model for this group was exhibited in the Salon of 1771 (see Wallace Collection Catalogues: Sculpture, London, 1981, p. 80-81, fig. S219).