A rare Vincennes glazed white group of two putti and a dolphin circa 1752-54

modelled as two putti struggling to control a fish, one standing astride the other and holding open the fish's mouth, on a rock- and coral-mound base, with original fitted papier-mâché rockwork stand, red wax EA mark.

Winifred Williams, London, acquired in 1979

J.V.G. Mallet, "Two Children and a Fish", The French Porcelain Society Journal, I, 2003, p. 133, fig. 2

The putto's right index finger is chipped away. There is some minor and occasional firing-related black speckling to the body, which is not very disfiguring. The papier marche base has discolored and has some occasional tears. Otherwise in good condition.
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The possible design sources for the Vincennes group and various versions of this sculptural composition are thoroughly discussed by J.V.G. Mallet in his article entitled "Two Children and a Fish", The French Porcelain Society Journal, I, 2003, pp. 131-148, where the present example is illustrated on p. 133, fig. 2. Expanding on the previous observations published by Claire Le Corbeiller (French Eighteenth-Century Porcelain at the Wadsworth Atheneum, pp. 63-65, no, 36) and T.H. Clarke ("French Influences at Chelsea", English Ceramic Circle Transactions, 1959, Volume 4, Part 5, pp. 45-54) that the design for the Vincennes model most likely derives from an Italian fountain group, Mallet further proposes Thomas Germain's silver faun candelabrum with sculptural similarities and Jean-Baptiste Tuby's fountain made for the Théâtre d'Eau at Versailles as possible inspirations for this composition.
Variations of this group were produced at various manufactories throughout Europe in the second half of the 18th century, including Meissen, Mennecy, Bow, Chelsea, Longton Hall and various Paris makers. Of all these variations, Mallet categorizes two families of this group: the Meissen model with the outstretched leg of one putto and the Vincennes version with the more reclining putto. Amongst various versions, Mallet identifies the Meissen and Vincennes examples to be the only independently modelled versions and names them the 'originators', serving as prototypes for other factories. 


The Vincennes factory inventory lists thirty 'Groupes d'enfants tenans un Dauphin' in 1752 in two sizes: thirteen larger ones and seventeen smaller ones, valued at ten and seven livres respectively. The present example is presumably the larger model. A smaller version of this model, 7 inches (18 cm) high, is illustrated in Svend Eriksen and Geoffrey de Bellaigue, Sèvres Porcelain, Vincennes and Sèvres 1740-1800, p. 209, fig. 23, where the authors state that the Paris marchand-mercier, Nicolas Bazin, purchased seven examples of these groups, "paying 15 livres for the small and 21 livres for the larger size."