Figure
Meissen Porcelain Factory
Category
Ceramics
Date
1840 - 1880
Materials
Porcelain, Enamel
Measurements
7.75 in (h)
Place of origin
Meissen
Order this imageCollection
Vyne Estate, Hampshire
NT 718452
Summary
Figure, hard-paste porcelain, painted in enamel colours.The 'Sleeping Seamstress' (Schlafende Louise - Louise le déserteur) was modelled by Michel-Victor Acier (1736-1795) circa 1774. A lady sits sleeping with her left arm over a table. Marks: Crossed swords in underglaze blue, incised model number E. 58, impressed former's mark and painter's cipher. Meissen Porcelain Factory, Germany. c.1840-1880.
Full description
The model may be based on an engraving after Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) from Le déserteur (The Deserter) an opéra comique by the French composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny with a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine. It was first performed on 6 March 1769 by the Comédie-Italienne at their public theatre, the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris.
Provenance
Possibly one of the 'four Dresden figures' purchased by William Wiggett Chute on 8 August, 1846 for £13.0s.0d. By descent to Sir Charles Chute and given to the National Trust in 1956 through the bequest of The Vyne House and Estate.
Marks and inscriptions
Marks - crossed swords in underglaze-blue and a variety of incised and enamel marks
Makers and roles
Meissen Porcelain Factory, manufacturer Michel Victor Acier (Versailles 1736 - Dresden 1799), designer