Statuettes of Venus and Mercury

Description Around 1751, Vincennes-Sèvres began to manufacture unglazed porcelain (or "biscuit") figurines. These biscuit figurines were based on Jean-Baptiste Pigalle's marble statues of Venus and Mercury. The marble statues were presented by Pigalle to Frederick II, King of Prussia, in 1750.

Provenance 48.977: E. F. Bonaventure [dealer], New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1909, by purchase [for receipt see WAM Archives, Vertical File, Chronologic: 1909]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest. 48.978: E. F. Bonaventure, New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1911, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1909 (48.977), 1911 (48.978)