Rare pair of biscuit busts signed At the back of the artist: Jean-Antoine Houdon.
The busts are made of fine French porcelain (stamp below the pair of busts).
They are in perfect condition and each measure 14 cm.
They are Louis and Alexandre Brongnart.
Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart the father of the two children depicted is a famous architect who realized the plaçais of the Paris stock exchange. He had their busts made by Jean-Antoine Houdon born on March 25, 1741 in Versailles and died on July 15, 1828 in Paris. Jean-Antoine Houdon is one of the most important French statuaries of the eighteenth century.
I want this pair of busts Houdon demonstrates its wonderful ability to transcribe without mièvrerie the freshness of early childhood, of which Louise retains the curves. Thanks to the rendering of the eyes, Houdon gives it that thoughtful air that sometimes take children. Child busts, very rare in the seventeenth century and in the first half of the eighteenth, this phenomenon reflects a change in mentality towards young age, reflected in the publication of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Émile in 1762. It is also explained by the extension of the sculpted portrait to wider layers of society, but also by the on sale development of "heads of study", Houdon showed his interest in children's portraits very early on, from his period of training in Italy. He sent a marble child's head to his first Salon in 1769.
Product code: Pair of busts on sale in old biscuit