Pair of Sevres Biscuit Porcelain Groups of the Continents

Product Description

Pair of Sevres Biscuit porcelain allegorical figures of the continents, here Asia and Europe, emblematic of the Four Corners of the World. After the 1791 models by Simon-Louis Boizot.

The figure on the left is the personification of Europe. She holds a shield emblazoned with a figure of a stallion. To her left is a bountiful cornucopia that spills onto the rocks. She perches upon an assortment of European signifiers: books, maps, and a cannon. Behind her, a small putto plays with a globe behind the seated figure. Europe is inscribed MAS. and dated 7 MARS (18)23. MAS. mark is that of Jean Mascaret a recorded Sevres repairer from 1806 to 1848.

The right figure is an allegory of Asia who holds a shield with the figure of a camel. To her left is a large brazier wafting exotic scents and around her lay a drum and a trumpet. Behind her a small putto adorned in an oriental headdress hold a shield with a crescent moon while quiver full of arrows rests between his legs. Impressed with an upper case mark, twice initialed AB for modeler Alexandre Brachard and dated 22 M13 (18)10.

A full set was acquired by George IV of England soon after he ascended the throne in 1821, and Her Majesty the Queen retains a figure of Europe, as discussed in G. de Bellaigue, French Porcelain in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London, 2009, vol. 3, pp. 1111-1112.

Dimensions:
Asia H: 14.5″ W: 8″
Europe H: 13.5″ W: 8″.