PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR. AND MRS. ALEXANDER SAUNDERSON

A PAIR OF SEVRES BISCUIT PORCELAIN FIGURES OF CUPID AND PSYCHE ON COLUMNAR BASES: 'L'AMOUR MENACANT' AND 'LA NYMPHE FALCONET'

1766-1771, INCISED F FOR FALCONET TO THE UNDERSIDE OF CUPID, INCISED X TO PSYCHE, BLUE INTERLACED L'S ENCLOSING DATE LETTER S FOR 1771 AND INCISED CN TO ONE BASE

細節

A PAIR OF SEVRES BISCUIT PORCELAIN FIGURES OF CUPID AND PSYCHE ON COLUMNAR BASES: 'L'AMOUR MENACANT' AND 'LA NYMPHE FALCONET'
1766-1771, INCISED F FOR FALCONET TO THE UNDERSIDE OF CUPID, INCISED X TO PSYCHE, BLUE INTERLACED L'S ENCLOSING DATE LETTER S FOR 1771 AND INCISED CN TO ONE BASE
The winged cupid seated on a rock holding his right index finger to his lips, his left hand on the quiver of arrows at his left; Psyche seated demurely on a rock, both hands holding the bow leaning against her left leg, each on a bleu nouveau fluted column-form base enriched in gilt
11 7/8 in. (30.1 cm.) high overall (4)

拍場告示

The estimate in the printed catalogue should read $10,000 - 15,000.

拍品專文

The incised F refers to Etienne-Maurice Falconet in his role as director of the sculpture workshop at Sèvres from 1758-1766. Given that one of the bases is marked for 1771, the present pair can be precisely dated.

The figure of Cupid was originally conceived in marble by Maurice Antoine Falconet in 1755 and exhibited at the Salon in that year. When he became director of the Sèvres porcelain factory in 1758, Falconet adapted the model for execution in biscuit porcelain. A figure of Psyche was conceived as a pendant in 1761. It was never executed in marble.