CIRCLE OF ETIENNE-MAURICE FALCONET, ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEPH (1740- AFTER 1807) OR JEAN-BAPTISTE IGNACE (1741-1794) BROCHE, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Several other versions of this delicately executed marble group exist in public collections around the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Detroit Institute of Arts. They have traditionally been associated with the sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716-1791), based on their stylistic similarities to documented works such as his Leda and the Swan, produced during Falconet's time at the Manufacutre de Sèvres (illustrated in Levitine, op. cit., fig. 48). However, the series of small scale marbles depicting Venus and Cupid in different compositions, of which this is one, have more recently been associated with the brothers Joseph and Jean-Baptiste Broche (see the catalogue entry for a nearly identical marble to the present lot in Sèvres, Musée Nationale de la Céramique, Falconet à Sèvres 1757-1766 ou l'art de plaire, 6 Nov. 2001 - 4 Feb. 2002). These brothers were known to have executed works in the style of Falconet, and two works signed by them in the Duc de Chabot's sale of 21 July 1771 included marble groups entitled Vénus fouettant l'Amour and L'Amour caressant Vénus - other compositions from the same series as the present group.