PSYCHE COOKIE AFTER FALCONET FROM THE LATE 19TH CENTURY

On a circular base of blue porcelain with gold highlights, a biscuit porcelain figure depicts Psyche as a little girl concealing Cupid's bow. This model is the counterpart to Etienne-Maurice Falconet's "Threatening Cupid," commissioned by Madame de Pompadour and exhibited at the Salon in 1757. The plaster sketch of this Psyche was exhibited at the Salon in 1761. Unlike its counterpart, this model was never executed in marble but only in Sèvres biscuit porcelain (a soft-paste version is held at the Musée National de Céramique in Sèvres) or glazed earthenware (held at the Château de Fontainebleau). On the pedestal, Voltaire's couplet has been altered to read: "No, no more than you are my master / You are, were, or must be." 19th century, circa 1890. Dimensions: W: 17cm, D: 17cm, H: 30cm.