An extremely rare example of an equestrian French authentic Sevres Porcelain Figure depicting King Francois I on horseback, mid to late Nineteenth Century.
The King dressed in full period uniform holding the reins complete with sword and applied ormolu (removable) stirrups. Horse in plumes and caparison decorated in raised gilding of exceptional quality. The naturalistic rectangular porcelain base with similar decoration.
Condition: Good condition for such early items, possibly never used, no restoration anywhere. Authentic SEVRES mark underneath.
Height: (entire as image one) 15" (38cm). Width: (at base) 10.25" (26cm). Depth: (at base) 6” (15cm).
Location: Dublin City, Ireland.
Worldwide Store to door shipping offered by Seller.
King Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angouleme, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a legitimate son. A prodigious patron of the Arts, he promoted the emergent French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work for him, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa, which Francis had acquired. Francis' reign saw important cultural changes with the growth of central power in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French exploration of the New World, Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire.