CIRCA 1748, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK TO BACK OF BASE

Seven early Cris de Paris figures were probably modelled by Peter Reinicke between 1744 and 1747 and they are after engravings from the Cris de Paris series by Anne Claude Philippe, Comte de Caylus (1692-1757) and drawings by Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762). Reinicke records two of the seven figures in his work reports: the Map Seller in October 1744 and The Bread Boy in August 1747. He makes reference to a third figure, perhaps a peddler, and possibly a trinket-seller in August 1747. No other archival entries exist for the remaining figures. Stylistically their modelling and pose suggests that they were very likely modelled by Reinicke, but it is also probable that J.J. Kändler, would have some involvement in correcting and improving these models.

The comte de Caylus’s 60 Cris de Paris etchings and engravings formed five suites, of which each consisted of twelve criers. These were first published in book format between 1737 and 1746 and it seems probable, bearing in mind the dating of the Work Reports discussed above, that the Meissen manufactory acquired this series of engravings shortly after they were first published. For illustrations of Caylus’s engravings and for all seven of the figures in the series, see Vanessa Sigalas & Meredith Chilton, All Walks of Life, A Journey with The Alan Shimmerman Collection, Stuttgart, 2022, pp. 250-271.

Previously identified as an ironmonger, a laundryman or mason, Caylus's 1737 etching of this subject is titled Chaudronier Auvergnat ('Copper-smith from Auvergne'). The tradesman is shown holding the lid of a kettle in his right hand and a tool in his left hand, perhaps designed to flatten a repair, see the example in the collection of Alan Shimmerman, illustrated by Vanessa Sigalas and Meredith Chilton, ibid., 2022, p. 262, cat. no. 70.