Pair Of 18th Century Terracotta Figures Signed "holain 1761" French School

PAIR OF 18th C. TERRACOTTA CHARACTERS SIGNED "HOLAIN 1761" (NE A VALENCIENNE) ONE CHARACTER REPRESENTS A HURDRY PLAYER AND THE OTHER REPRESENTS A DRINKER THE 2 CHARACTERS ARE SIGNED Of course, Holain will not enter (for the moment ...) in the Pantheon of 18th century sculptors. Nothing is known of him even though he exhibited two terracotta busts at the Salon of 1791 and illustrated a facet of artistic life in the provinces at the end of the Ancien Régime. He just benefits from a few evasive lines in S. Lami's dictionary. Like his contemporary Louis Delaville (1763-1841), Holain sought a new audience after the Revolution and lived as best he could, modeling small terracotta groups illustrating biscuit-sized subjects of everyday life, the image of these two craftsmen busy at their work. Their realistic and caricatural style like the malignant expression of the figures - very representative of his way of doing things - can be found on two small nature busts (Vente Sotheby's Paris, March 24, 2005, n° 73, repr.). SIZE / 35 CM HIGH