"Childhood Of Bacchus, 18th Century Porcelain."
Rotating group in soft white enamel paste from the Gérault d 'Aréaubert factory in Orleans. In the center, on the top of a rocky terrace richly adorned with plants and various animals, Bacchus, a child wearing vine branches, rides a goat nibbling a vine. Around, three loves and a faun are engaged in a bacchanal, they have the different characteristics characteristic of this kind of scene, glasses, bottles, tambourines ... etc. Note the funny presence of two snails, a snake head. This group is rare for its subject matter and for the richness and diversity of its ornamentation. For many decades, Europeans tried to imitate the ceramics brought back by navigators from China. From the end of the 17th century some French factories produced porcelain called "tender paste". It was a great success and in the eighteenth century large factories were born: Saint-Cloud, Chantilly, Mennecy, Vincennes, etc ... and the "Royal Manufacture of purified white earth" of Orleans which had for protector the Duke of Penthièvre. The latter produced between 1753 and 1782. Gérault d 'Aréaubert was its main director. Among his production, subjects and groups in enamelled white porcelain were very successful in France and in many European countries. The model we are presenting was produced by this factory, it was an element especially intended to decorate the tables of the French service. As often with this kind of object it has suffered from the ravages of time and it is damaged in several places. Dimensions: height 22.5 cm, width 19 cm.