The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 1, 2024

Figure Group of Love Carried by the Three Graces

Figure Group of Love Carried by the Three Graces

c. 1768–1778
(French, est. 1756)

after a design by François Boucher

(French, 1703–1770)
France, Sèvres, 18th century
unglazed soft-paste porcelain (biscuit)
Overall: 25.4 x 12.8 x 14 cm (10 x 5 1/16 x 5 1/2 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1966.235
Location: 216A French and German

Did You Know?

The design of this figure group appeared among the 38 porcelain figure groups included in a service commissioned for Catherine of Russia in 1779.

Description

This figure group was likely modeled after the designs of François Boucher, whose designs appeared as figures or paintings on Sèvres porcelain. The scene represented is pulled from classical antiquity; the child wreathed in flowers is a physical manifestation of love and the women who hold him aloft are the three daughters of Zeus, Greek god of the sky.
  • R. Henry Norweb, Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Cat. No. 72, repr. p. 68
    Bourgeois, Émile. Le biscuit de Sèvres au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Goupil, 1909. Vol. 2, p. 12, pl. 28
    Bourgeois, Émile, and Georges Lechevallier-Chevignard. Le biscuit de Sèvres: recueil des modèles de la manufacture de Sèvres au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: P. Lafitte, 1914. no. 597, pl. 8
    Réau, Louis. Etienne-Maurice Falconet. Paris: Demotte, 1922. Mentioned: P. 270, Vol. 1
    Manufacture nationale de Sèvres. Les oeuvres de la Manufacture nationale de Sèvres. Vol. 1, La Sculpture de 1738 à 1815. Paris: Ministère d'état chargé des affaires culturelles, 1932. p. 11, no. 90
    Birjukova, Nina. Figurines et Groupes en Porcelaine des Manufactures Francaises du XVIIIe Siècle. Leningrad: Ermitaž, 1962. Mentioned: P. 293, no. 40; Reproduced: no. 60
    Schlumberger, Eveline. "Pourquoi certains collectionneurs reprennent goût au biscuit de Sèvres." Connaissance des Arts (April 1962). p. 51, fig. 3
    Lee, Sherman, E. "Golden Anniversary Acquisitions: September 10 through October 16." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 53, no. 7(September 1966): 181-284. Mentioned: P. 277, no. 19; Reproduced: P. 227, fig.19 www.jstor.org
    Berges, Ruth. "Soft-Paste Biscuit Figures from Vincennes and Sèvres." Connoisseur, vol. 166, no. 669 (November 1967). p. 194
    Dal Carlo, Elisabetta. Le porcellane dell'ambasciatore. Venezia: Arsenale, 1998. p. 160-61
    Birioukova, Nina, and Natalia Kazakevitch. Sevrskiĭ farfor XVIII veka: katalog kollektsii. Saint Petersburg: Izdateĺstvo Gosudarstvennogŏ Ėrmitazha, 2005. p. 426-47, no. 1319
  • Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 6, 2016).
    The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-August 22, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Figure Group of Love Carried by the Three Graces|url=false|author=Sèvres Porcelain Factory, François Boucher|year=c. 1768–1778|access-date=01 September 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.235