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Figure of a Bird Charmer
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineFigure 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
