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Coutau-Bégarie & Associés
394
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JEAN-BAPTISTE NINI (1717 - 1786)
Profile of MICHEL FOUCAULT,…
See original version (French)
394
-
JEAN-BAPTISTE NINI (1717 - 1786)
Profile of MICHEL FOUCAULT,…
See original version (French)
Estimate €800 - €1,000
Voluntary lot
Description
JEAN-BAPTISTE NINI (1717 - 1786)
Profile of MICHEL FOUCAULT, facing left. His hair is up and curled at the nape of his neck with a ribbon. He is wearing a sown suit with a lace jabot.
Embossed wax portrait signed and dated on the arm cut NINI F 1775. It is presented with a slate medallion engraved around the edge "MICHEL FOUCAULT", each word separated by a fleur-de-lys.
Diameter: 17.2 cm
(accidents and missing pieces; profile detached from the medallion, traces of glue)
Provenance: French aristocratic family.
The model presented here could be a rare preparatory model for the finished version in terracotta, such as those in the Musée du Petit Palais in Paris, the Château de Chaumont and the Metropolitan Museum.
According to the article published on 4 July 2024 by the Heritage and Inventory Department for the Centre-Val de Loire Region, Nini's technique is not fully known, but in all likelihood he modelled a first model in wax.
The Chaumont-sur-Loire collection holds one of only three known wax medallions by Nini, the profile of Jeanne Nini (white wax). The other two are in the Louvre: Prince Charles Juste de Beauvau (black patina wax) and Suzanne Elisabeth Françoise de Jarente de la Reynière (black patina wax).
Michel Foucault was the husband of Marie-Elizabeth Leray de Chaumont, sister of Jacques-Donatien Leray de Chaumont, owner since 1750 of the land of Chaumont-sur-Loire, on which he founded a factory near the château in 1770, grouping together two factories (including a pottery). In 1772, he entrusted the general management of the business to Jean-Baptiste Nini.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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