Little girl holding grapes with a basket of them by her side, from "Deuxième Livre de Figures d'après les porcelaines de la Manufacture Royale de France"
Original title: Little girl holding grapes with a basket of them by her side, from "Deuxième Livre de Figures d'après les porcelaines de la Manufacture Royale de France" (Second Book of Figures after porcelains from the Manufacture Royale de France)
kurzbeschreibung
Pierre François Tardieu produced this etching and engraving after 1757. It shows a young girl seated on a stone, holding a bunch of grapes in her hand; right beside her stands a basket also filled with grapes. The subject belongs to a series that translated porcelain figures of the Manufacture Royale de France into prints.
Description
Seated on a stone, the young woman holds a bunch of grapes in her right hand and gazes calmly forward. The lower part of the sheet is dominated by a woven basket full of grapes standing next to her. She wears a simple, long dress; a head covering partly frames her face. Behind the figure, trees and a portion of a house can be made out, with a cloudy sky above. The tones remain muted and mostly gray, the light falls evenly and avoids strong shadows.
Context
This print belongs to the 'Deuxième Livre de Figures d'après les porcelaines de la Manufacture Royale de France', a series engraved after porcelain figures of the French royal manufactory. The French engraver Pierre François Tardieu made these reproductions in the 18th century so that porcelain art could reach a wider audience. Works from around 1757, when the manufactory in Sèvres was prominent for its figurative porcelain, served as models. The series acted as a pattern book for collectors and craftsmen.
Impact
Calm in layout and muted in tone, the print comes across as restrained and elegant. Because the light is evenly distributed and figure and basket stand in harmony with each other, a quiet, idyllic mood arises. The viewer's gaze turns to the girl's simple grace and to the natural abundance of the grapes.
Technique
The work was executed in etching and engraving; this allows fine lines to be drawn and details to be reproduced precisely. The process permits fine hatching that captures the soft transitions of gray tones as well as the surfaces of clothing and basket. The print was pulled on paper measuring 25 x 18.9 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)