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Rare Paris porcelain biscuit bust of Honoré Riqueti Mirabeau from the Faubourg Saint-Denis manufactory.  The politician and orator, his face bearing scars of smallpox, looks to the right with a penetrating gaze. He is wearing a wig and an over-garment giving the impression of a toga. The bust rests on a round white glazed plinth inscribed on the body in gold: “Je combatterai les factieux de tous les parties.” (“I will fight seditionists of every party.”) and on the base: “Honoré Riquetti (sic) Mirabeau”. One of the most realistic portraits of Mirabeau, the technique to portray the eyes is noteworthy: the sculptor incised them to simulate a reflection on the pupil and suggests the iris with fine interior corrugations set on an angle. The sculpture is possibly by Jean Robert Nicolas Lucas de Montigny, Mirabeau’s son. [Small firing cracks on the nose between his eyes, on his collar and elsewhere. Tiny chips]                              Inscribed in cursive on the rear of the bust:                                                       Manufacture                                                       Du fb St denis                                                          No  25  (With a backwards “N”.) Gilded mark on glazed base beneath the bust:                                                          “BD” (Possibly with an illegible inscription below.) The porcelain factory on the Faubourg Saint-Denis, founded in 1771 by Pierre-Antoine Hannong, came under the protection of the Count d’Artois in 1779. In the 19th century, it became the Schoelcher factory. Ex Collection: Mme. Piazza-Chaigneau; American Art Association Anderson Galleries, January 29, 1932. Lot 8 (Attributed to Francois Marie Suzanne)
Height (ins.): 14.25 (56.5cm)      Length/Width (ins.): 7.5 (19cm)
Origin: France, late 18th century     Period: Directoire