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(Beware!) and (Mischievous Love) after Falconet |
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Bonded White Marble on Marble Base $178 (less Internet discount of $16) = $162 (freight $9) Amour Menacant (Right Above) 10-1/2" H Bonded White Marble on Marble Base $178 (less Internet discount of $16) = $162 (freight $9) Both purchased as a pair $312 (less Internet discount of $28) = $284 (freight $17) |
| The eighteenth century French court patronized the arts but lived for pleasure and love. The heavy ornamentation of the baroque gave way to a lighter style in the arts called rococo. Some say it was an effeminate art. It is true that it found its greatest patron in the Marquise de Pompadour, the predecessor of Madame du Barry as the favorite of Louis XV. Mme. de Pompadour appointed Falconet director of the royal porcelain factory at Sevre. There he was able to create pleasureable designs like those of Amour Menacant and Garde a Vous. Everything that we associate with the rococo is to be found in this charming pair -- the love interest (cupids were everywhere in rococo designs), the lightness, the delicate charm. In Garde a Vous we see one who is still a child but one whose charm will ensnare the hearts of men. She is already reaching to the bow at her side, the bow that will deliver the arrow of love. With Amour Menacant we see Cupid lifting a finger for secrecy, even as his right hand steals to the quiver full of arrows at his side. |
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