Figure Group of the Festival at the Chateau (La fête au château) or the Model Fidelity (La fidélité modèle)

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Figure Group of the Festival at the Chateau (La fête au château) or the Model Fidelity (La fidélité modèle) as ceramic (France, Sèvres · 1766).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

The introduction of Sèvres porcelain figures modeled after the Opéra-Comique’s theatrical productions may have resulted from the friendship between François Boucher, designer of many early Sèvres porcelain figures, and Charles-Siméon Favart, director of the theater in 1758.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this ceramic as unglazed soft-paste porcelain (biscuit) and credits Sèvres Porcelain Factory (French, est. 1756).

The museum's collection notes: Recognizable porcelain figures and figure groups modeled after contemporary theatrical works produced by the Parisian company Opéra-Comique were produced at the Vincennes factory as early as 1752. This group illustrates a scene from a play credited to Charles-Siméon Favart, Fête au Château (Festival at the Castle), when the gardener Jacquot and his love Colette reunite.

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtFigure Group of the Festival at the Chateau (La fête au château) or the Model Fidelity (La fidélité modèle)

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