Large Patinated Terracotta - Two Cupids Disputing A Heart After Emfalconet - XIXth

Magnificent and large sculpture in patinated terra cotta, entitled "Two loves disputing a heart" after Etienne Maurice Falconet (1716-1791), resting on a terrace decorated with a frieze of pearls and reeds wrapped in ribbons

This work was very successful in the second half of the 19th century, and was produced in bronze, marble, alabaster and terracotta. 

Two winged lovers are represented in a fight to recover a heart figured on the base.  

Period : End of XIXth century
Circa : 1898 - 1900
Dimensions : Height : 50cm - Width of the base : 28cm
Signature : " Falconet " on the terrace.
Marked in hollow : GC below

Artist, man of letters and aesthetician, the career of the sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet (1716 - 1791) is particularly exemplary.

Overcoming the handicap of his birth, this brilliant self-taught man with an extraordinary personality rubbed shoulders with the greatest.

Protégé of Mme de Pompadour, friend of Diderot and the Encyclopedists, he was able to impose himself by his talent and his culture.

The works executed at the church of Saint Roch and his position as director of sculpture at the Manufacture de Sèvres are in a way the prelude to his work in Saint Petersburg. 

The imposing bronze Cavalier to the glory of Peter the Great made in 1771 remains the masterpiece of his work and will be his last artistic achievement.