Sculptures of the Day: Biscuit Figures in the Sévres Style

Pair of Infants: One Drawing, One Reading
Dihl et Guerhard, Late Eighteenth Century
Hard-Pase Biscuit Porcelain
Acquired by Queen Mary, 1936-38
The Royal Collection

In the late Eighteenth Century, with the growing popularity of biscuit (parian), the porcelain makers at France’s Sévres introduced the trend of creating a pair of figures—one a female child who represents reading, the other a male representing drawing. This motif was frequently copied by other aspiring porcelain makers—both French and English--who were well on their way to perfecting their own parian figures. Such is the case of this pair of infants. Crafted in the late Eighteenth Century in the Sévres style by Dihl et Guérhard, this set is numbered on the reverse in black paint, “No. 1” and “No. 2.” Historians believe that the pair may have been sculpted to be included in a group on a large clock case that was never completed.


You’ll never guess how these ended up in the Royal Collection. Oh, okay. You guessed. Mary of Teck acquired the first one in 1936 and the second in 1938. How she managed to hunt down the the mate to the first one, I’ll never know. But, she did, and they’ve been in the Royal Collection ever since.

Sculpture of the Day: Falstaff in the Laundry, 1850

Parian Group
"The Merry Wives of Windsor"
Worcester, 1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Parian ware, as we know, is the unglazed development of biscuit porcelain. The medium became very popular after the Staffordshire firm of Copeland and Garrett introduced it in 1842 as a medium for busts, statuettes and reliefs.

Several different British pottery concerns marketed the medium under a different name but “Parian” remained the generic term after Minton used “Parian” to suggest Paros, the Greek island which supplied a lot the marble used for Classical statuary. Now, to be sure, Parian ware was not inexpensive, however, it was more cost effective than marble, and it gave households the appearance of owning a marble bust or figurine, previously only afforded by the very wealthy.

The Worcester firm, makers of the example we see pictured above, started their production of Parian relatively late in the game. After Worcester launched a range of Parian objects at the Dublin Exhibition in 1853, James Hadley (1837-1903), their chief modeler, created a host of new Parian objects, including the Shakespeare subjects of Lady Macbeth and King Lear. Meanwhile another Worcester modeler, William Boynton Kirk, produced a dozen figural groups based on characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

This Worcester piece, dating to about 1850, was most likely modeled by James Hadley (1837-1903) and shows the scene from The Merry Wives of Windsorwhen “Mistresses Page” and Ford humiliate Falstaff in retaliation for his amorous advances by hiding him in a laundry basket which Mrs. Ford's servants, naturally, leave in the river—as one does. The front of the base incised THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Coker Brooch, 1816-1840

Biscuit Porcelain Brooch
George Coker
Derby, 1816-1840
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in Derby, this attractive and delicate plaque dates between 1816 and 1840. The floral plaque of biscuit porcelain was made by Derby’s George Coker. Coker has been an apprentice at the Nottingham Road factory in Derby, leaving in 1817 to open his own porcelain business in Friar Gate, Derby. There, he produced porcelain figures and plaques such as this one.

Floral designs of this era were more than just pretty objects, they had meaning and socially-understood symbolism. Lilies of the valley, like the ones here, signified a “return to happiness” while the convolvulus which forms the centerpiece of the plaque represented “the bonds of love.”  Also included in the spray are "Forget-Me-Nots."

The plaque is set in a plain gold slip and, on the reverse, is marked with the symbols of Coker and his wife.

The Home Beautiful: A Vintage Biscuit Tin, c. 1920

Biscuit Tin Bank
England, 1920s
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This biscuit tin from the early 19th Century was made for the Christmas season. After the First World War, the typical English biscuit tin—a convention which arose in 1861—had become more reserved than the Nineteenth Century, opulent, printed tin models. The exception to this was the Christmas Season when fanciful and clever designs were produced for biscuit companies wishing to appeal to children and their parents. 

These tins were made to be saved, and, often, they’d offer a feature which gave them extended use. This one, for example, was made to serve as a money box or bank after the cookies had all been eaten. It is decorated with printed scenes from “Alice in Wonderland” as well as depictions of Nursery Rhyme characters. The coin slot at the top could be punched out when the biscuits were all gone.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Clock Biscuit Tin, 1877

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This beautiful clock, on first glance, appears to be the real deal. However, it’s one of the many clever biscuit tins produced in Britain at the end of the Nineteenth Century after the Licensed Grocer's Act of 1861 allowed groceries to be individually packaged and sold. Biscuit tins were made in increasingly complex and elaborate designs—not only making them appealing to shoppers who might choose one brand of biscuits over another because of an attractive package, but also ensuring that they’d remain beloved collectibles for centuries to come.


This tin was produced in 1877 for the Christmas season and depicts a tall-case clock in the chinoiserie style which was so popular at the time. A remarkable job of shaping the tin with raised details is only made all the more beautiful by the chromolithography.

P.S.  The hands move and everything!

Sculptures of the Day: Biscuit Figures in the Sévres Style

TOMORROW is going to be a festival of food and food-related items.  So, I thought these sculptures might get us in the mood.  Why?  Not because we eat babies.  No.  But, because they're biscuit.  Mmmm....biscuit.  Oh, sorry.  Not that kind of biscuit.  

Pair of Infants: One Drawing, One Reading
Dihl et Guerhard, Late Eighteenth Century
Hard-Pase Biscuit Porcelain
Acquired by Queen Mary, 1936-38
The Royal Collection

In the late Eighteenth Century, with the growing popularity of biscuit (parian), the porcelain makers at France’s Sévres introduced the trend of creating a pair of figures—one a female child who represents reading, the other a male representing drawing. This motif was frequently copied by other aspiring porcelain makers—both French and English--who were well on their way to perfecting their own parian figures. Such is the case of this pair of infants. Crafted in the late Eighteenth Century in the Sévres style by Dihl et Guérhard, this set is numbered on the reverse in black paint, “No. 1” and “No. 2.” Historians believe that the pair may have been sculpted to be included in a group on a large clock case that was never completed.


You’ll never guess how these ended up in the Royal Collection. Oh, okay. You guessed. Mary of Teck acquired the first one in 1936 and the second in 1938. How she managed to hunt down the the mate to the first one, I’ll never know. But, she did, and they’ve been in the Royal Collection ever since.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: 'Jeu de l'Echarpe,' 1898-1904

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This delicate figure of white biscuit porcelain is part of a grand table design of fifteen standing female sculptures of the “scarf dance” made famous by Loïe Fuller. The group was made between 1898 and 1904, designed by Agathon Léonard for the Sèvres porcelain factory in Paris.

This fluid, elegant group was intended for display on a table or sideboard and depicts each step in Fuller’s celebrated dance—“Jeu de l'Echarpe.” Agathon Léonard was careful in the design of the group, mastering each motion and expression of Fuller’s dance. He was born Léonard Agathon van Weydeveldt of Belgian parents and trained as a sculptor, specializing in ceramic modeling. The group from which this sculpture comes is considered one of his great triumphs.


The full group, fittingly entitled “Jeu de I'Echarpe,” was first shown in the Paris 1900 Exhibition at which Sèvres won a Grand Prix, and was described in the exhibition report as "elegant figures in a graceful and charming ensemble which were a great and deserved success.” This figure and its porcelain sisters typify the spirit of Art Nouveau style—undulation, movement, and the idealized female form. Léonard couldn’t have picked a better subject than Miss Fuller. The American dancer was a regular fixture at the Folies Bergère, Paris where her free-flowing, silk-clad dance caught the attention of many an artist, including the French artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec who was also drawn to the elegant theatricality of the spectacle.

The figure is marked number “12” of the group of fifteen and bears the marks “S” and “1904.”

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Falstaff in the Laundry, 1850

Parian Group
"The Merry Wives of Windsor"
Worcester, 1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Parian ware, as we know, is the unglazed development of biscuit porcelain. The medium became very popular after the Staffordshire firm of Copeland and Garrett introduced it in 1842 as a medium for busts, statuettes and reliefs.

Several different British pottery concerns marketed the medium under a different name but “Parian” remained the generic term after Minton used “Parian” to suggest Paros, the Greek island which supplied a lot the marble used for Classical statuary. Now, to be sure, Parian ware was not inexpensive, however, it was more cost effective than marble, and it gave households the appearance of owning a marble bust or figurine, previously only afforded by the very wealthy.

The Worcester firm, makers of the example we see pictured above, started their production of Parian relatively late in the game. After Worcester launched a range of Parian objects at the Dublin Exhibition in 1853, James Hadley (1837-1903), their chief modeler, created a host of new Parian objects, including the Shakespeare subjects of Lady Macbeth and King Lear. Meanwhile another Worcester modeler, William Boynton Kirk, produced a dozen figural groups based on characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

This Worcester piece, dating to about 1850, was most likely modeled by James Hadley (1837-1903) and shows the scene from The Merry Wives of Windsorwhen “Mistresses Page” and Ford humiliate Falstaff in retaliation for his amorous advances by hiding him in a laundry basket which Mrs. Ford's servants, naturally, leave in the river—as one does. The front of the base incised THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.

The Home Beautiful: A Vintage Biscuit Tin, c. 1920

Biscuit Tin Bank
England, 1920s
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This biscuit tin from the early 19th Century was made for the Christmas season. After the First World War, the typical English biscuit tin—a convention which arose in 1861—had become more reserved than the Nineteenth Century, opulent, printed tin models. The exception to this was the Christmas Season when fanciful and clever designs were produced for biscuit companies wishing to appeal to children and their parents. 

These tins were made to be saved, and, often, they’d offer a feature which gave them extended use. This one, for example, was made to serve as a money box or bank after the cookies had all been eaten. It is decorated with printed scenes from “Alice in Wonderland” as well as depictions of Nursery Rhyme characters. The coin slot at the top could be punched out when the biscuits were all gone.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Coker Brooch, 1816-1840

Biscuit Porcelain Brooch
George Coker
Derby, 1816-1840
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in Derby, this attractive and delicate plaque dates between 1816 and 1840. The floral plaque of biscuit porcelain was made by Derby’s George Coker. Coker has been an apprentice at the Nottingham Road factory in Derby, leaving in 1817 to open his own porcelain business in Friar Gate, Derby. There, he produced porcelain figures and plaques such as this one.

Floral designs of this era were more than just pretty objects, they had meaning and socially-understood symbolism. Lilies of the valley, like the ones here, signified a “return to happiness” while the convolvulus which forms the centerpiece of the plaque represented “the bonds of love.”  Also included in the spray are "Forget-Me-Nots."

The plaque is set in a plain gold slip and, on the reverse, is marked with the symbols of Coker and his wife.

Sculpture of the Day: Falstaff in the Laundry, 1850

Parian Group
"The Merry Wives of Windsor"
Worcester, 1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Parian ware, as we know, is the unglazed development of biscuit porcelain.  The medium became very popular after the Staffordshire firm of Copeland and Garrett introduced it in 1842 as a medium for busts, statuettes and reliefs.

Several different British pottery concerns marketed the medium under a different name but “Parian” remained the generic term after Minton used “Parian” to suggest Paros, the Greek island which supplied a lot the marble used for Classical statuary.  Now, to be sure, Parian ware was not inexpensive,  however, it was more cost effective than marble, and it gave households the appearance of owning a marble bust or figurine, previously only afforded by the very wealthy.

The Worcester firm, makers of the example we see pictured above, started their production of Parian relatively late in the game.  After Worcester launched a range of Parian objects at the Dublin Exhibition in 1853, James Hadley (1837-1903), their chief modeler, created a host of new Parian objects, including the Shakespeare subjects  of Lady Macbeth and King Lear.  Meanwhile another Worcester modeler, William Boynton Kirk, produced a dozen figural groups based on characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

This Worcester piece, dating to about 1850, was most likely modeled by James Hadley (1837-1903) and shows the scene from The Merry Wives of Windsor when “Mistresses Page” and Ford humiliate Falstaff in retaliation for his amorous advances by hiding him in a laundry basket which Mrs. Ford's servants, naturally, leave in the river—as one does.  The front of the base incised THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.

Sculpture of the Day: 'Jeu de l'Echarpe,' 1898-1904

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This delicate figure of white biscuit porcelain is part of a grand table design of fifteen standing female sculptures of the “scarf dance” made famous by Loïe Fuller.  The group was made between 1898 and 1904, designed by Agathon Léonard for the Sèvres porcelain factory in Paris. 

This fluid, elegant group was intended for display on a table or sideboard and depicts each step in Fuller’s celebrated dance—“Jeu de l'Echarpe.”  Agathon Léonard was careful in the design of the group, mastering each motion and expression of Fuller’s dance.  He was born Léonard Agathon van Weydeveldt of Belgian parents and trained as a sculptor, specializing in ceramic modeling. The group from which this sculpture comes is considered one of his great triumphs.


The full group, fittingly entitled “Jeu de I'Echarpe,” was first shown in the Paris 1900 Exhibition at which Sèvres won a Grand Prix, and was described in the exhibition report as "elegant figures in a graceful and charming ensemble which were a great and deserved success.”  This figure and its porcelain sisters typify the spirit of Art Nouveau style—undulation, movement, and the idealized female form.  Léonard couldn’t have picked a better subject than Miss Fuller.  The American dancer was a regular fixture at the Folies Bergère, Paris where her free-flowing, silk-clad dance caught the attention of many an artist, including  the French artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec who was also drawn to the elegant theatricality of the spectacle. 


The figure is marked number “12” of the group of fifteen and bears the marks “S” and “1904.”

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Clock Biscuit Tin, 1877

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This beautiful clock, on first glance, appears to be the real deal. However, it’s one of the many clever biscuit tins produced in Britain at the end of the Nineteenth Century after the Licensed Grocer's Act of 1861 allowed groceries to be individually packaged and sold. Biscuit tins were made in increasingly complex and elaborate designs—not only making them appealing to shoppers who might choose one brand of biscuits over another because of an attractive package, but also ensuring that they’d remain beloved collectibles for centuries to come.


This tin was produced in 1877 for the Christmas season and depicts a tall-case clock in the chinoiserie style which was so popular at the time. A remarkable job of shaping the tin with raised details is only made all the more beautiful by the chromolithography.

P.S.  The hands move and everything!

Object of the Day , Museum Edition: A French Biscuit Figure, 1904

The Victoria & Albert Museum

As styles changed from the more formal sculptures of the Nineteenth Century, French artists experimented with figures which represented motion and drama. This new mind-set was one of the seeds from which the Art Nouveau movement grew.

This figure perfectly sums up the spirit of the Art Nouveau style. This was originally part of a group of fifteen, entitled 'Jeu de l'Echarpe' ('Scarf Dance'), and was inspired by the sensational dance performed by the American Loïe Fuller, who was a regular fixture at the Folies Bergère in Paris.

This motif of the free-flowing, silk-clad dancer came into the front of artistic consciousness in 1893 in an iconic lithograph by the French artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. The theatricality of this Sèvres figure and its supporting group solidified the motif in turn-of-the-century Parisian art.

The group is the work of Agathon Léonard for Sèvres. He began the group in 1898 and displayed some of the pieces at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900, where Sèvres won a prize. The figures were described in the exhibition report as "a graceful and charming ensemble which were a great and deserved success." The figures were produced by Sèvres in many editions and were also copied in bronze and porcelain.

Sculptures of the Day: Biscuit Figures in the Sévres Style

Pair of Infants: One Drawing, One Reading
Dihl et Guerhard, Late Eighteenth Century
Hard-Pase Biscuit Porcelain
Acquired by Queen Mary, 1936-38
The Royal Collection

In the late Eighteenth Century, with the growing popularity of biscuit (parian), the porcelain makers at France’s Sévres introduced the trend of creating a pair of figures—one a female child who represents reading, the other a male representing drawing. This motif was frequently copied by other aspiring porcelain makers—both French and English--who were well on their way to perfecting their own parian figures. Such is the case of this pair of infants. Crafted in the late Eighteenth Century in the Sévres style by Dihl et Guérhard, this set is numbered on the reverse in black paint, “No. 1” and “No. 2.” Historians believe that the pair may have been sculpted to be included in a group on a large clock case that was never completed.


You’ll never guess how these ended up in the Royal Collection. Oh, okay. You guessed. Mary of Teck acquired the first one in 1936 and the second in 1938. How she managed to hunt down the the mate to the first one, I’ll never know. But, she did, and they’ve been in the Royal Collection ever since.

Precious Time: An Exceptional Biscuit and Bronze Clock, 1789

Temple-form Mantel Clock
Benjamin Vulliamy
Commissioned by Queen Charlotte
1789-90
The Royal Collection

In the late Eighteenth Century, a friendly rivalry arose between French and English makers of porcelain figures. English craftsmen began to create biscuit (parian) figures that rivaled those of French makers. One of the main proponents of this new effort was Benjamin Vulliamy, clockmaker to King George III, who employed the finest sculptors in creating exceptional clock cases which featured high quality biscuit figures.


Pleased with Vulliamy’s efforts, George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte, commissioned this clock case in the Neoclassical style which was popular at the time. The temple-form clock case features a figure of Euterpe—the Muse of Lyric Poetry. Surmounted by a delicately enameled clock face, the entire piece is supported by biscuit columns with gilt bronze capitals and adorned with finely turned finials.

Object of the Day: An Antique Bisque Portrait Vase

The term “bisque” is often used in the U.S. to refer to the material properly called “biscuit.” Biscuit porcelain is unglazed and highly porous, however it can be painted and embellished as is the case of this attractive portrait vase.


Dating to the mid-Nineteenth-Century, this vase is English in origin. Painted in a rusty red and embellished with gold scroll-work, the central decoration of the vase is a hand-painted portrait of a young woman in profile. Portrait vases were quite popular during the Victorian era. Often, a member of the family was represented on a specially commissioned vase. Others were sold commercially with idealized images of beauty. Our Victorian counterparts liked things with faces.

Because of biscuit’s natural matte finish and its ability to take color neatly, it was often employed to make the heads and limbs of dolls. The result was a very realistic looking figure with an eerily lifelike skin-tone. Biscuit figures (often called parian ware) are very fragile. Because of this they’re quite difficult to find. If you have a biscuit object in your possession, make sure to handle it with care.

Masterpiece of the Week: A Sèvres Bust of French King Louis XVI, 1785

Bust of Louis XVI
Louis-Simon Boizot, 1785
The Royal Collection

British King George IV had a special interest in the history of France—particularly the empire as it was during the reign of the Bourbons and earlier dynasties. King George IV commissioned Sèvres porcelain-makers to create a series of busts of the French Kings from Louis XII to Louis XVIII. The busts were created in biscuit. Biscuit, an unglazed porcelain which mimics the look of marble, was referred to as Parian ware after the Nineteenth Century.


Of these remarkable biscuit figures, only two survive today—owing largely to Parian’s delicate nature. This bust of King Louis XVI is particularly exquisite. Great attention was paid by sculptor Louis-Simon Boizot to ensure that every detail was accurate down to the positioning of King Louis’ buttons and badges.

Biscuit is a stunning material if not a fragile one. While it’s a pity that only two of these busts remain, we can take comfort in the fact that all of them weren’t accidentally destroyed. This piece and its brother can be seen in Britain’s Royal Collection.