Live Auction 2762Treasures of France
TWO SEVRES BISCUIT PORCELAIN FIGURES OF BATHING NYMPHS, 'LA BAIGNEUSE' AND 'LA BAIGNEUSE AUX ROSEAUX'
Lot 92

TWO SEVRES BISCUIT PORCELAIN FIGURES OF BATHING NYMPHS, 'LA BAIGNEUSE' AND 'LA BAIGNEUSE AUX ROSEAUX'

CIRCA 1770, AFTER MODELS BY FALCONET, THE FIRST INCISED SCRIPT JB FOR BACHELIER, THE UNDERISDE INCISED C, THE SECOND INCISED F FOR FALCONET

Closed24 October 2012

Price Realised

USD 40,000

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TWO SEVRES BISCUIT PORCELAIN FIGURES OF BATHING NYMPHS, 'LA BAIGNEUSE' AND 'LA BAIGNEUSE AUX ROSEAUX'
CIRCA 1770, AFTER MODELS BY FALCONET, THE FIRST INCISED SCRIPT JB FOR BACHELIER, THE UNDERISDE INCISED C, THE SECOND INCISED F FOR FALCONET
Each nude standing at the banks of a river, the first about to enter the water, the second drying herself with a drape
14¼ in. (36 cm.) high, the slightly taller (2)

The Blackwell Collections; Christie's, London, 14 December 2000, lots 44 (La Baigneuse) and 43 (La Baigneuse aux roseaux).

Specialist note

Etienne-Maurice Falconet based his 1758 biscuit figure La Baigneuse -- also known as Nymphe qui descend au bain -- on his life-size marble shown at the Salon of 1757. A copy made for Madame du Barry is in the collection of the Louvre. In 1762, he designed a second bather as a pendant, Baigneuse aux roseaux, which, with its reversed pose, gracefuly reflects the form of the earlier figure. As one delicately tests the water with her toe while removing her drape, the other hurredly covers herself as she rises from the water (See M.N. Pinot de Villechenon, et. al., Falconet à Sèvres 1757-1766 ou l'art de plaire, exhibition catalogue, Sèvres, musée national de la céramique, 2001-2002, nos. 6, 95b, 97b).