Attributed to Louis-Claude Vassé (1716-1772), France, circa 1760 Young child Bust in white marble The reverse with an inscription in red 3017; standing on a pink veined marble pedestal H. 24 cm (19 ½ in.) H. (total) : 34 cm (13 ½ in.) Comparative bibliography: B. Black, Vassé's "Bambinelli", The Child portraits of an 18th century French sculptor, London, 1994, no 5b. S. Lami, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'Ecole française au dix-huitième siècle, Paris, 1910-1911, 2 vols, II, p. 377. L. Réau, Un sculpteur oublié du XVIIIe siècle: Louis-Claude Vassé 1716-1772, in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, July 1930, pp. 53-54. A carved marble bust of a Child, attributed to Louis-Claude Vassé (1716-1772), French, circa 1760 Louis-Claude Vassé (1716-1772) was one of the most important artists of the 18th century. The son and pupil of the ornamental sculptor François-Antoine Vassé (1681-1736), he entered the workshop of Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762), where he was one of his most gifted pupils. He won the Prix de Rome in 1739. Approved by the Académie in 1748, he was admitted in 1751, and then became a professor at the Académie Royale in 1761. He exhibited at the Salon from 1748 until his death. The support of the comte de Caylus facilitated his access to commissions from important patrons, such as Louis XV and Frederick the Great of Prussia, for whom Vassé created a life-size Diana, kept at the Château de Sans-Souci (Potsdam, inv. no. GK III 283). A renowned portraitist, he produced marble busts for the Hôtel de Ville de Troyes in particular, as well as busts of children, like the bust we are presenting here. Vassé married Marie-Anne Huet de Lepine-Loinville in 1749 and had three children. Vassé's busts of children, delicate portraits, show the great sensitivity of the sculptor who was able to capture the different looks and personalities of each of the children, testifying to an intimate bond between the sculptor and his models. Réau compares Vassé to Houdon in the quality of his treatment of children's busts. We know of three other busts of children by Vassé with similarities to our own, one showing a young boy with a turban in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon (B1389), the second a bust probably representing his daughter Adelaïde-Jeanne at the age of eight in the Huntington Art Gallery in San Marino, and the last on the art market representing Constance-Félicité-Victoire-Désirée Vassé, the artist's daughter. *Information for buyers: Lot from outside the EU: The hammer price is exclusive of VAT. VAT at the reduced rate of 5.5% applies to the hammer price. This VAT is recoverable for French professionals. It is reimbursable for a buyer from outside the EU on presentation of proof of export from the EU or for a professional bidder providing proof of an intra-Community VAT number and a document proving delivery in the Member State. *Information to the buyers : Lot from outside the EU : The hammer price and premium will be VAT excluded. 5.5% VAT will be added to the hammer price and premium. Upon request, this VAT can be refunded to the purchaser on presentation of written proof of exportation outside EU, or to the EU purchaser who will submit his intracommunity VAT number and a proof of shipment to an EU country.