Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
Designs for 17 young children involved in various activities were issued by sculptor Étienne-Maurice Falconet and regularly reproduced as porcelain figurines. This figure, who stretches out his hand in anticipation that a bird might land, would have been modeled after one of these designs. Decorative figurines like these were often included in elaborate dining services to be placed about a table along with the usual tureens and tableware.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
136555
label
Figure of a Bird Charmer
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
136555
contentType
object
title
Figure of a Bird Charmer
description
Designs for 17 young children involved in various activities were issued by sculptor Étienne-Maurice Falconet and regularly reproduced as porcelain figurines. This figure, who stretches out his hand in anticipation that a bird might land, would have been modeled after one of these designs. Decorative figurines like these were often included in elaborate dining services to be placed about a table along with the usual tureens and tableware.
date
1764–66
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80030566
creators
11883
304711
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 12.1 x 8.3 x 5.8 cm (4 3/4 x 3 1/4 x 2 5/16 in.)
cul
France, Sèvres
accession
1961.12
Source extras
tec
Unglazed soft-paste porcelain (biscuit)
tombstone
Figure of a Bird Charmer, 1764–66. Manufactured by Sèvres Porcelain Factory (French, est. 1756), Etienne-Maurice Falconet (French, 1716–1791). Unglazed soft-paste porcelain (biscuit); overall: 12.1 x 8.3 x 5.8 cm (4 3/4 x 3 1/4 x 2 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1961.12
collection
Decorative Arts
relatedWorks
id
136566
description
Figure of a Mischief Maker, 1766. Etienne-Maurice Falconet (French, 1716–1791), Sèvres Porcelain Factory (French, est. 1756). Unglazed soft-paste porcelain (biscuit); overall: 11.8 x 6.1 x 7 cm (4 5/8 x 2 3/8 x 2 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1961.13
relationship
related series
didYouKnow
31 figures modeled after Falconet’s series were included in the dinner service given by French King Louis XV to Christian VII, King of Denmark in 1768.
citations
citation
Bourgeois, Émile. <em>Le biscuit de Sèvres au XVIIIe siècle</em>. Paris: Goupil, 1909.
page_number
vol. 1, p. 45; vol. 2, p. 11
citation
Bourgeois, Émile, and Georges Lechevallier-Chevignard.<em> Le biscuit de Sèvres: recueil des modèles de la manufacture de Sèvres au XVIIIe siècle</em>. Paris: P. Lafitte, 1913.
page_number
no. 435, pl. 10
citation
Réau, Louis. <em>Etienne-Maurice Falconet</em>. Paris: Demotte, 1922.
page_number
p. 264-65, 513-14
citation
<em>Les Oeuvres de la manufacture nationale de Sèvres</em>. Vol. 1, <em>La sculpture de 1738 à 1815</em>. Sèvres: Manufacture nationale, 1932.
page_number
p. 15, no. 453
citation
"Year in Review." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> (November 1961).
page_number
p. 243, no. 21
citation
Musée national de céramique. <em>Sèvres, Musée national de céramique: nouvelles acquisitions, 1979-1989</em>. Paris: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1989.
page_number
p. 171, no. 243
citation
Horvitz Roth, Linda, and Clare Le Corbeiller. <em>French Eighteenth-Century Porcelain at the Wadsworth Atheneum: The J. Pierpont Morgan Collection</em>. Hartford: Wadsworth Atheneum, 2000.
page_number
p. 360-61
citation
<em>Falconet à Sèvres, 1757-1766, ou, L'art de plaire</em>. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2001.
page_number
p. 125-30
creditline
The Norweb Collection
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:58:21.220000
sourceId
136555
dept
Decorative Art and Design
coll
Decorative Arts
med
Unglazed soft-paste porcelain (biscuit)
creatorTags
male
gender unknown
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
67cc116cbb57151a