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Lot Essay
In 1774, Sigisbert François Michel exhibited a pair of plaster ewers surmounted by a triton and a satyr in the Académie de Saint-Luc, Paris. This prototype was the basis for a number of subsequent ewers in malachite (a pair of which can be seen in the Wallace Collection, London), biscuit porcelain (with a pair in the Musée d'Orlans) and bronze (with a pair in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris).
Wedgwood versions in basalt and jasperware could also be found in England after 1775 when John Flaxman Sr. presented Josiah Wedgwood with a plaster model based on Michel's original model - the former version of which can be seen in the Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston.
Closely related examples executed in bronze include a pair sold 'Park West, The Property of a Private Collector', 22 May 2003, lot 39 (/P14,340), a further pair sold Christie's, New York, 17-18 May 2005, lot 519, and more recently a pair sold Christie's, Paris, 17 December 2009, lot 152.
Wedgwood versions in basalt and jasperware could also be found in England after 1775 when John Flaxman Sr. presented Josiah Wedgwood with a plaster model based on Michel's original model - the former version of which can be seen in the Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston.
Closely related examples executed in bronze include a pair sold 'Park West, The Property of a Private Collector', 22 May 2003, lot 39 (/P14,340), a further pair sold Christie's, New York, 17-18 May 2005, lot 519, and more recently a pair sold Christie's, Paris, 17 December 2009, lot 152.