Rare pair of Louis XV period magots in white Chantilly porcelain in imitation of Chinese whites, chased and gilt bronze mount, h. 33 cm Pair of magots (wrong dimensions) reproduced in: - Le Duc Geneviève, Porcelaine tendre de Chantilly au XVIIIe siècle, Hazan, Paris, 1996, p. 90 Although less prolific than Saint-Cloud or Villeroy in the field of soft-paste porcelain statuary, the Chantilly manufactory produced some remarkable figures of Far Eastern inspiration in the mid-18th century: pagodas, magots and Buddhas. The two magots on display here testify to this attraction to the exotic. Covered in the typical Chantilly stanniferous glaze, which softens the features and sometimes impales the modelling, these pseudo-Asian figures seduce with their joviality, a characteristic of the Manufacture. As well as their sculptural value, these magots had a decorative function: picturesque counterpoints to liven up the cabinets of connoisseurs and provide a counterpoint to the rich lacquers and porcelain imported from China and Japan. Today, they are rare and precious testimonies to this unusual and sought-after statuary, produced in a short space of time and by a very limited number of sculptors.