{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O233419"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O233419/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BP0949/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BP0949/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BP0949","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BP0953","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BP0952","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BP0951","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BP0950","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BG1075","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O233419/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O233419","accessionNumber":"C.367&A-1983","objectType":"Pair of busts","titles":[{"title":"Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, King and Queen of France","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The royal manufactory at Sèvres was purchased by Louis XV in 1759 and specialised in luxury porcelains, many of which were destined for the French court. Each year it displayed its newest models in the king's apartments at Versailles. The factory was very responsive to changes in fashion and introduced many innovations in design and decoration. Its products were admired throughout Europe and its style was widely imitated. \r\nPorcelain figures evolved as table decorations to replace those made of sugar or wax. Elaborate table ornaments were an important part of grand dining and figures were usually designed to be seen from all sides. Pastoral groups, playful children, and allegorical or mythological themes were some of the popular subjects illustrated in porcelain sculpture. From the 1760s, large sculptures, busts of famous people and groups commemorating historic events were produced as freestanding works of art in their own right. \r\n\r\nFigures were usually made from moulds in numerous separate parts, which were painstakingly assembled before the first firing.  The royal manufactory at Vincennes/Sèvres was responsible for some of the most outstanding examples. Under the direction of the celebrated sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet, the Sèvres workshops were inspired by a variety of sources, including designs by  other fashionable artists, such as François Boucher, as well as ancient Roman marbles and reliefs. White, unglazed 'biscuit' porcelain was launched in 1751. It proved an ideal substitute for sugar sculpture and soon replaced the production of glazed figures at Sèvres. Biscuit sculpture was as highly prized as that of marble or bronze. Faults and blemishes could not be concealed by glaze or painted decoration, so it was extremely expensive to produce.\r\nThis magnificent pair of busts was presented by Louis XVI to one of the ambassadors sent to France by Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore, in 1788.","physicalDescription":"Pair of busts in soft-paste biscuit porcelain depicting Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, King and Queen of France.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Boizot, Louis-Simon","id":"A28408"},"association":{"text":"modeller","id":"AAT25417"},"note":"Louis XVI"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Sèvres porcelain factory","id":"A406"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"soft paste porcelain","id":"AAT10665"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Soft-paste biscuit porcelain","categories":[{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"},{"text":"Porcelain","id":"THES48907"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2007BP0949","2007BP0953","2007BP0952","2007BP0951","2007BP0950","2006BG1075"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"145","id":"THES49865"},"free":"","case":"50","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"SHLN","id":"THES49063"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bust","id":""}],[{"text":"Bust","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1788","earliest":"1783-01-01","latest":"1792-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"380","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Louis XVI","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"265","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Louis XVI","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"240","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Louis XVI","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"407","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Marie-Antoinette","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"260","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Marie-Antoinette","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"150","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Marie-Antoinette","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"LR 15","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Josse-François-Joseph Le Riche, in his capacity as Director of Sculpture","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On Louis XVI"}],"objectHistory":"<u>Provenance</u>: Given by King Louis XVI of France to one of the three ambassadors sent to Paris by Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore, in July 1788. Looted from Seringapatam by British troops in 1799; in the possession of John Adamson Rice (1778-1799) of the British East India Company that same year; passed by descent to an anonymous descendent of Rice; auctioned by Christie's Auction House in 1983 and purchased by a UK-based dealer; purchased by the V&A that same year following a decision by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art that the busts should be 'saved for the nation'.\n\nFor a fuller account of the provenance of the two busts, see V&amp;A web article 'The Tiger and the Queen: a bust of Marie Antoinette from the court of Tipu Sultan' (see link in References field below).\n\nDisplayed in <i>Marie Antoinette Style</i>, V&amp;A South Kensington, 20 September 2025 to 22 March 2026.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Pair of busts of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, King and Queen of France, soft-paste biscuit porcelain, Louis XVI modelled by Louis-Simon Boizot, Sèvres porcelain factory, France, ca. 1788","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rondot, Bertrand, and Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, <u>Visiteurs de Versailles: Voyageurs, Princes, Ambassadeurs (1682-1789)</u>. Paris, 2018., p. 205, 322"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rondot, Bertrand, and Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, <u>Visitors to Versailles From Louis XIV to the French Revolution</u>. New Haven London, 2018., p. 175, 330"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"The Tiger and the Queen: a bust of Marie Antoinette from the court of Tipu Sultan (V&A web article). https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-tiger-and-the-queen-a-bust-of-marie-antoinette-from-the-court-of-tipu-sultan"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Louis (XVI, King of France)","id":"N2275"},{"text":"Marie-Antoinette","id":"N1625"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["C.367-1983","C.367A-1983"],"accessionNumberNum":"367","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1983,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Bust [1]","Bust [2]"],"assets":["2025PF2713","2025PF2712","2017KD4951","2017KD4953","2019LP7586","2019LP2019","2019LT5509","2019LT5461","2019LU8085","2019LU0966"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-11","recordCreationDate":"2009-05-19","availableToBook":false}}