18th century Niderviller's porcelain group

A porcelain group from Niderviller representing
"milk drinkers".

This group inspired by the drawings of François Boucher, taken over by Sèvres at the initiative of Falconet, was produced in Niderviller under the direction of the sculptor Philippe Arnold.
Philippe Arnold was trained by Guillaume Lanz in Frankenthal. He was Niderviller's sculptor from 1759 to 1780 when he left for Haguenau.

During his presence in Niderviller he produced nearly 600 models composed of more or less important groups or isolated characters representing:
- gallant scenes,
- characters from peasant life,
- children's games,
- allegories of the seasons,
- cries of Paris,
- hunters,
- beggars,
- musicians,
- etc ....

We have here a group of 2 children; one is perched on a rock while the other tries to snatch the bowl of milk from him.

This model was created by Falconet for Sèvres in soft porcelain biscuit

The particularity of this group is to be in hard porcelain.

Like Strasbourg, Niderviller was one of the first French factories to make hard porcelain.

This group was made in Niderviller in the 1770s.

Good condition.