Two of the so-called dogs of the Marquise de Pompadour

Gilt bronze, marble
Late 18th century
France
10 x 11 cm (3.9 x 4.3 in)

Many bronze dogs of this style have been identified — without much justification — as the pets of Marie-Antoinette or the Marquise de Pompadour. It is true that, in this case, the two dogs bear a certain resemblance to Inès and Mimi, the Marquise’s favorite dogs. They were immortalised in portraits by Christophe Huet, known today through several engravings by Étienne Fessard held at the Cabinet des Estampes. Inès and Mimi were also engraved based on drawings by Boucher in the Suite d'estampes gravées par madame la marquise de Pompadour d'après les pierres gravées de Guay. In these, the resemblance is no less striking, though ultimately inconclusive. All that can be said with certainty is that several similar or closely related models existed during the last two-thirds of the 18th century ; it can be assumed that the domestic animals used as models belonged to the great collectors of that era. Furthermore, the 1770 inventory of Philippe Caffiéri mentions “a firedog with a dog and a cat”, and a similar object was noted in the 1755 posthumous inventory of his father, Jacques Caffiéri. This is why, by tradition, gilt bronze statuettes representing dogs or cats — especially when they show such advanced modeling and chasing as seen here — have been attributed to the Caffiéri family.