Unknown man
Bust
06/1786 (signed)
06/1786 (signed)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This man represented by this terracotta bust has not yet been identified although it is a signed and dated (June 1786) work. He wears a periwig, the queue tied with a ribbon. His broad collared coat shows three buttons on each side. Above the lapels are visible a lace frill and the collar of a waistcoat. The neck is bound with a stock.
The sculptor, Pierre Merard (? - 1800), was a pupil of Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762) and exhibited at the Salons in Paris in the 1790s. He died in 1800. His recorded work largely consists of busts and portrait medallions.
The sculptor, Pierre Merard (? - 1800), was a pupil of Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762) and exhibited at the Salons in Paris in the 1790s. He died in 1800. His recorded work largely consists of busts and portrait medallions.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Unknown man (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Terracotta |
Brief description | Unknown man, terracotta bust by Pierre Merard, France, signed and dated June 1786 |
Physical description | Bust of a man in terracotta. The subject, an unknown man, looks half left. He wears a periwig, the queue tied with a ribbon. His broad collared coat shows three buttons on each side. Above the lapels are visible a lace frill and the collar of a waistcoat. The neck is bound with a stock. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions | Par Merard En Juin 1786 (on the back, just above the truncation, on the left.) |
Gallery label |
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Credit line | Bought with funds from the John Webb Trust |
Object history | The subject of this bust has not been identified. Historical significance: Pierre Merard (? - 1800) was a pupil of Bouchardon. Received by the Academie de S. Luc in 1763, he exhibited in the Salon de S. Luc in 1774 and in the Salons of the Louvre of 1795, 1796 and 1799. He died in 1800. His recorded work largely consists of busts and portrait medallions. He is best known for his bust of the Prince of Conti, of which the terracotta (signed October 1776) is in the Museum at Dijon. Versailles possesses a plaster. Two marbles exist, both dated 1777 (one belongs to Duchesse de Rohan, Chateau de Josselin, Brittany, the whereabouts of the other is unknown - information supplied in letter to Sculpture Dept by Louis Reau). There is a terracotta bust of an unknown man by Mérard in the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas (1952.0011). A terracotta bust of Claude François Moreau of 1769 was sold by Sotheby's (1990, 1997 and 2000). |
Summary | This man represented by this terracotta bust has not yet been identified although it is a signed and dated (June 1786) work. He wears a periwig, the queue tied with a ribbon. His broad collared coat shows three buttons on each side. Above the lapels are visible a lace frill and the collar of a waistcoat. The neck is bound with a stock. The sculptor, Pierre Merard (? - 1800), was a pupil of Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762) and exhibited at the Salons in Paris in the 1790s. He died in 1800. His recorded work largely consists of busts and portrait medallions. |
Bibliographic reference | Hodgkinson, T., French Eighteenth Century Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, in V&A Museum Yearbook, 1972
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Collection | |
Accession number | A.4-1949 |
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Record created | March 1, 2004 |
Record URL |
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