after JEAN-JACQUES CAFFIÉRI a terracotta ALLEGORICAL FIGURE OF THE river God French, 19th century, possibly from the Linke workshop

Jean Bieder, François Linke's foreman in the 1920s, who eventually took over Linke's business in 1946

Jean-Jacques Caffiéri (1725-1792) comes from a dynasty of reknowned sculptors and fondeurs-ciseleur. Jean-Jacques was the grandson of Philippe Caffieri (1634-1716), who married the sister of King Louis XIV's celebrated painter, Charles Le Brun, and son of the celebrated Jacques Caffiéri (1673-1755), who was the leading fondeur- ciseleur of the Louis XV period. In 1715 he became maître and from 1736 was employed by the crown, working royal residences including Versailles, Fontainebleau, Choisy and Marly. Jean-Jacques Caffiéri, to whom the original of the present model is attributed, was appointed sculpteur du Roi to Louis XV and later given the priviledge of lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre.

The present model stood in the Linke's showroom at 170 Faubourg Saint-Antoine during Linke's tenure and it is interesting to note that the Linke Archives have a 19th century bronze master model.