CIRCA 1745, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK AT 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 1744¹and 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 this series were very likely modelled by Reinicke, however, it is also probable that J.J. Kändler, would have had some involvement in correcting and improving of 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.

First modelled in 1744, the map seller appears with some variations to the model; some sellers are holding a box rather than a rolled map or print. In each case, where a map is depicted, the map appears to be unique to the figure and may reference the intended purchaser. A figure of a map seller, holding a map titled MARE BRITANICUM is in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, C.T., see accession no. 1917.1434 and another, with a map of the Regno di Napoli, is in the collection of Alan Shimmerman, illustrated by Vanessa Sigalas and Meredith Chilton, ibid., Stuttgart, 2022, p. 255, cat. no. 65.

1. The Map Seller is recorded in Reinicke's work report of October 1744: '1 Tyroler, einen Tabulet-Kasten tragend, mit Bildern in der Hand, 9 Zoll hoch, in Thon bossiert' ('1 Tryolean, holding a hawker's tray, with pictures in his hand, 9 inches high, modelled in clay'), see Meissen Manufactory Archive, BA III H 117, (transcript), 78, in Vanessa Sigalas & Meredith Chilton, ibid., Stuttgart, 2022, pp. 253.