Lot 193: A CARVED MARBLE BUST OF A LADY, POSSIBLY MME. DE FONDVILLE

BY JEAN-BAPTISTE DEFERNEX (1729-1783), 1757
Depicted with her head turned to dexter and flowers and ribbons in her hair; signed and dated on the reverse of the shoulders 'par. J B. Defernex. 1757'; on a square spreading marble socle.
19 3/4 in. (50.2 cm.) high; 25 in. (63.5 cm.) high, overall

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
J-L. Champion ed., Mille Sculptures des Musées de France, Paris, 1998, no. 472, pp. 228-229.
J-R. Gaborit ed., Musée du Louvre, Sculpture Française, II Renaissance et Temps Modernes, I, no. RF 1518, p. 328.

Jean-Baptiste Defernex started his career as a modeller for the Vincennes-Sèvres porcelain manufactory but would eventually be best known for his vibrant portrait busts, especially of celebrated beauties of the day. Among these, his terracotta portraits of the comedienne Mme. Favart (Louvre, Paris) and Mme. de Fondville (Musée de Tessé, LeMans, illustrated in Gaborit and Champion, locs. cit., respectively) are perhaps the best known. The latter bust, although depicting the sitter facing in the opposite direction and with her hair swept up at the back, is extremely close in facial type to the present marble bust and may represent a slightly later depiction of the same sitter.

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