Pair of Derby seasons – Winter & Summer – c. 1815

Sold

Derby ‘French Seasons’, representing Summer and Winter, modelled as a boy & girl with attributes, dressed in bright clothing with rich colours & gilt detailing, on low round plinth bases.

Incised figure model number, ‘No. 123′, he with painter’s number ’34’ in red
Circa 1815

18cm high

Condition: both with restorations, including her neck, his legs re-stuck & twig restored, displaying very well.

ref. Bradshaw – Derby Porcelain Figures – p. 267 for the set, No. 123

Known as the ‘French Seasons’, these figures are in fact copies of a Tournai set modelled by N. Gauron in around 1760, in which there were a pair for each season. Gauron used Rococo artist Francois Boucher’s designs as their source, but by the time these versions were made there were multiple differences. Interestingly, the Derby figures of the 1770’s are more like the rare items produced at Bristol by Champion, and these may have been the design source rather than the Tournai originals. London sculptor William Coffee is said to have re-modeled the slightly earlier versions in the mid 1790’s, giving them the low cylinder bases seen here, rather than the earlier rococo scroll bases. .

Sold - let us find you another