Jean-Baptiste Pillement (1728-1808) A Chinese man playing music Terracotta group, 1786 A child flanked at his feet: resting on a fully carved base, signed 1786 30 7 bre G.P.F/ BRA?, with a paper label on the reverse Accorsi Pietro - Antichita Via PO. 55 /Torino / 6815/ *00 ; accidents and missing parts H. 26.4 cm (10 ½ in.) l. 13 cm (5 ¼ in.) A terracotta group depicting a Chinese man playing music, Jean Baptiste Pillement (1728-1808), 1786 From the end of the 17th century, the taste for the Far East (India, China and Japan) was highly developed in Europe, and the passion for chinoiserie spread to all the great interiors. It was certainly Jean-Baptiste Pillement (1728-1808), one of the most prolific artists in the Chinese manner, with his book of Chinese ornaments published in 1755, who facilitated the creation and artistic development of the Chinese taste in Europe. The artist combined familiar domestic scenes with foreign exoticism. As the motifs were fairly simple, they could easily be applied to decorative art objects. During his lifetime and after his death, his designs were used to create ceramics, silverware, sculptures, tapestries and textiles. The sculpture shown here is rare, as it is signed and dated by Jean-Baptiste Pillement. We are aware of another terracotta group (apparently unsigned) showing a Chinese man sitting on a bench and singing, which is artistically and stylistically very similar to our terracotta (Koller Auktionen, Zürich, lot 1094, 22.09.2022).