- 132
Possibly from the workshop of Louis-François Roubiliac (1702-1762) English, circa 1750
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Description
- a bronze head of a laughing child
- English, circa 1750
mounted on waisted marble socle with bronze supports
Catalogue Note
Ever since Bellamy Gardner's 1938 article in which he published the Chelsea factory porcelain bust of the Laughing child now in the Ashmolean Museum as a work modelled by Louis-François Roubiliac, scholars have questioned whether the attribution is tenable. While Esdaile accepted it, both Penny and Baker refrained from linking it to him securely - but kept him as a prominent candidate based on circumstantial evidence. Whoever the author - and even Flaxman's name has been raised - the head is clearly based on 17th century Baroque prototypes and in particular Bernini (who Roubiliac greatly admired) and Duquesnoy.
Unusual for its small scale in the context of English 18th century bronze work, the model is sometimes found paired with the bust of a crying child. If intended as pendants, together they may reveal their original identification as the young Heraclitus and Democritus, the cheerful (i.e. laughing) and gloomy (i.e. crying) Greek philosphers. However the Laughing Child model was evidently more popular and largely reproduced independently: a marble version of the Laughing Child by Nollekens, without pendant, is in the Hermitage.
The present cast probably retains its original base and is set apart from other casts by its high-quality facture and exceptional patina. A dating even earlier than 1750 is quite plausible.
RELATED LITERATURE
Penny (1992), no.457; Baker, pp.90-93, pls.69-70 and note 35, pp.174-75
Unusual for its small scale in the context of English 18th century bronze work, the model is sometimes found paired with the bust of a crying child. If intended as pendants, together they may reveal their original identification as the young Heraclitus and Democritus, the cheerful (i.e. laughing) and gloomy (i.e. crying) Greek philosphers. However the Laughing Child model was evidently more popular and largely reproduced independently: a marble version of the Laughing Child by Nollekens, without pendant, is in the Hermitage.
The present cast probably retains its original base and is set apart from other casts by its high-quality facture and exceptional patina. A dating even earlier than 1750 is quite plausible.
RELATED LITERATURE
Penny (1992), no.457; Baker, pp.90-93, pls.69-70 and note 35, pp.174-75