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Eddison Collection
Samson's factory - Enlarge image
Eddison Collection
- Object:
Figurine
- Place of origin:
Paris, France (made)
- Date:
19th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Samson's factory (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Glazed porcelain
- Credit Line:
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996
- Museum number:
S.956-1996
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This figurine of Mr. Purgon, Argan's doctor in Molière's play Le Malade Imaginaire was made in Paris by the company of Edmé Samson, a famous copyist of pottery and porcelain. Samson began in the 1830s, making copies of ceramics in museums and private collections, and replacement pieces for dinner services and sets. He established his factory in Paris in 1845 producing pieces inspired by and copied from the work of famous factories including Chinese export porcelain, Meissen, Sèvres, Chelsea, Derby and the major factories of England, France and Germany, as well as tin-glazed earthenware or faience.
Le Malade Imaginaire was the last written by Molière, or Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673), considered to be France's greatest dramatist. He wrote 27 plays, mostly satirising the foibles of everyday life and apparently respectable figures such as doctors, lawyers and priests. Molière wrote, directed and acted in his plays and ironically the role of Le Malade in Le Malade Imaginaire, a hypochondriac who felt sure he was dying, was Molière's last role. He suffered convulsions following its fourth performance and died that evening.
