Late Louis XV Porcelain Bust of Voltaire attributed to Paul-Louis Cyfflé
£620
A Louis XV porcelain bust of Voltaire in a cross between bisque porcelain and Terre de Lorraine, the sitter shown looking to dexter, the integral plinth hung with laurel swags and faced by a trophy incorporating musical instruments and a mask of drama; the whole over-painted
Though born in Flanders, Paul-Louis Cyfflé (Bruges 1724 – Ixelles 1806) found fame in France whilst attached to the court of the duchy of Lorraine and, on the death of the court sculptor Barthélémy Guibal, under whom he had been working, in 1757, he became sculpteur officiale de duc Stanislas. In 1768 he founded the porcelain manufactory at Luneville where Terre de Lorraine was invented. In 1779 he returned to Brussels. He specialised in busts of famous people and the offered bust must have been produced in the late 1760s or 1770s, before his return to Belgium.
A Further example of this model can be found in the collection of V&A Museum, London
