2025年11月21日星期五 
This Week in La Gazette Drouot : Étienne-Maurice Falconet Two Monumental Garden Sculptures Rediscovered
I ntended as park ornaments, these two sculptures are among the most innovative works of the transition period between the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. Masterpieces completed in 1780 by Étienne-Maurice Falconet.
By Caroline Legrand
Read the full version of "Étienne-Maurice Falconet Two Monumental Garden Sculptures Rediscovered" in La Gazette Drouot
These two works are some of the few surviving examples of Étienne-Maurice Falconet 's talent for monumental garden sculpture. And yet, their origins can be traced back to small models created in 1758 for the Manufacture royale de porcelaine de Sèvres. The previous year, Falconet had been appointed director of the sculpture workshop, on the recommendation of his patron Madame de Pompadour.
Over a period of nine years, he created no fewer than seventy models, many inspired by works by François Boucher. From 1758 to 1780, the date of completion of these two sculptures - according to the inscription on La Pêche - no one knows what led to the creation of these nearly two-meter-tall (nearly 6.5 ft tall) versions.
This long period in Falconet's career was marked by a stay in Russia, between 1766 and 1778, where he was commissioned by Catherine the Great to create the equestrian statue of Peter the Great. When he returned to France around 1779-1780, after a stint in the Netherlands and Italy, he resumed certain projects, which undoubtedly included these two allegories.
Since his creations for the Marquise de Pompadour 's gardens at Château de Crécy and Bellevue, as well as his Minerve for Louis XV's park at Château de Choisy, Falconet has received many important commissions of this type. And these works were certainly one of these commissions.
Read the full version of "Étienne-Maurice Falconet Two Monumental Garden Sculptures Rediscovered" in La Gazette Drouot
These two works are some of the few surviving examples of Étienne-Maurice Falconet 's talent for monumental garden sculpture. And yet, their origins can be traced back to small models created in 1758 for the Manufacture royale de porcelaine de Sèvres. The previous year, Falconet had been appointed director of the sculpture workshop, on the recommendation of his patron Madame de Pompadour.
Over a period of nine years, he created no fewer than seventy models, many inspired by works by François Boucher. From 1758 to 1780, the date of completion of these two sculptures - according to the inscription on La Pêche - no one knows what led to the creation of these nearly two-meter-tall (nearly 6.5 ft tall) versions.
Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716-1791),
Hunting and Fishing
Matching stone park sculptures
Estimate: €80,000/100,000
Hunting and Fishing
Matching stone park sculptures
Estimate: €80,000/100,000
This long period in Falconet's career was marked by a stay in Russia, between 1766 and 1778, where he was commissioned by Catherine the Great to create the equestrian statue of Peter the Great. When he returned to France around 1779-1780, after a stint in the Netherlands and Italy, he resumed certain projects, which undoubtedly included these two allegories.
Since his creations for the Marquise de Pompadour 's gardens at Château de Crécy and Bellevue, as well as his Minerve for Louis XV's park at Château de Choisy, Falconet has received many important commissions of this type. And these works were certainly one of these commissions.
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