CIRCA 1785, IMPRESSED FLEUR DE LYS MARK

Details

A Buen Retiro white biscuit group of Venus disarming Cupid
Circa 1785, impressed fleur de lys mark
Modelled after the Sèvres original, Venus with a garland of roses about her hair, the robe over her right shoulder tied beneath her bossom, glancing in amusement at Cupid and standing barefoot by a cylindrical altar holding his quiver in her right hand and his bow in the other, Cupid kneeling at her feet in a mischievous pose with his left finger raised to his mouth, on a rockwork mound supported by a circular plinth base with fluted panels divided by paterae (chipping to Cupid's right hand, part of bow possibly lacking)
12½ in. (31.7 cm.) high

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

This subject was modelled by Falconet after the painting by Angelica Kauffman as L'Amour captif de la Jeunesse, and the Buen Retiro example was adapted from the Sèvres original. For a Sèvres example, see Émile Bourgeois and Geo. Lechevallier-Chevignard in Le Biscuit de Sèvres (n.d.), pl. 46, no. 20, where it is given the date 1799.

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