Large Biscuit Figurine

This is a rare biscuit porcelain figurine made by Sevres around 1765. This figure is known as " Les mangeurs de raisins " or the Grape Eaters. This figure was directly inspired by a pastoral group painted by Boucher in 1749 - " Pensent-ils aux raisins ". The porcelain version was first modeled by Falconet in 1752 and even Madam Pompadour had an example in her collection. It is one of the most charming pieces they ever made! The example here has the script B incised on top of the base by the gentleman's foot for Bachelier who was the artistic director at the factory from 1756 on. So it is his approval mark. The figure is superbly modeled and left unglazed to show off all that fine detail. Biscuit porcelain was mean to imitate marble which it did quite well. Bachelier was the first to ever make a finished figurine in this medium so it is nice to have his approval mark on this example! The figurine is of a young gentleman feeding grapes to his lady. Their dog by their feet. The gentleman is holding a basket filled with grapes and their leaves under his right arm, she has her apron filled with more grapes and there is a grape vine going up the tree stump to the right side. A hat by his feet. A truly stunning figurine! These early Sevres figures are becoming really hard to find and this model here is as good as they come! .The figurine is in superb condition. Almost perfect which is hard to believe! The only real damage and it is quite minor is to the grape bunch he is about to feed is lady. There are some grapes missing on it. I can only find damage to two of the leaves and that is super minor. This version of the basket would have had no handle so that is fine. There is a super minor firing crack to the center of the front of the base. Two stems of the vine going up the stump are missing and there is an extra blob of porcelain on top of the stump - not sure why. As minor as you will find on this model - most have much worse! A small chip to the edge of the hat. A couple more minor firing flaws but you really have to look hard to find anything wrong with the figure - it displays perfectly! The piece is 8.125 inches tall, 8 inches wide and 6 inches deep. Quite heavy as it is made of a solid piece of porcelain. Please email me for more information or other pictures.