Production: 1750 - 1799
Estate: Ceramics
Technique(s) : Porcelain
Dimensions : Height : 7.5 cm ; Width : 6 cm ; Depth : 4 cm
Inventory no.: A.4552
Cartel
Jeanne d'Arc's long hair - she didn't get a short haircut until the following century - was dressed in whimsical Renaissance fashion. Dressed in a finely embellished gown, she sports a feathered hat. The modelling of her face and the details of her toilette are delicately handled. This statuette is directly inspired by the Portrait de l'Hôtel de Ville.
Despite doubts as to its attribution, the bust illustrates the precious soft-paste porcelain produced by the Manufacture d'Orléans. In 1753, Jacques Etienne Dessaux de Romilly (1711-1757) created the "Manufacture royale de terre blanche purifiée", which was taken over in 1782 by Charles Claude Gérault d'Areaubert (1716/17-1782). The Manufacture offers a pictorial iconography of the young woman, at a time when historians are beginning to take an interest in her character.
This piece joins the other busts of Jeanne already in the historical museum's collections. This bust bears witness to the damage caused by the fires of 1940.
Provenance
Fonds ancien de l'Hôtel Cabu, Musée d'Histoire et d'Archéologie d'Orléans.
