Nicolas Lecorney – Girl picking a daisy, biscuit porcelain, late 19th c.

A large and poetic white biscuit porcelain figure (unglazed porcelain) after the French sculptor Nicolas Lecorney. A young girl in a simple dress with a laced bodice stands barefoot, thoughtfully plucking the petals of a flower: the well-known ‘effeuiller la marguerite’ – he loves me, he loves me not. Her long hair hangs down her back in two plaits; behind her is a rock with flowers and leaves. The figure is signed ‘Lecorney’ on the back of the rock. The same model, ‘Jeune fille effeuillant une marguerite’, has been sold at French auctions, including the Hôtel des ventes de Troyes (2012, height 54 cm). Lecorney, born in Gourgeon (Haute-Saône), exhibited at the Paris Salon around 1880–1884; his girls and nymphs were mainly produced in biscuit. The matt, marble-like biscuit and the soft light give this figure a very quiet, timeless quality. The modelling of the little face, the hands with the flower and the folds of the skirt is fine and lively – a true 19th-century salon sculpture. Beautiful on a mantelpiece, pedestal or windowsill, in a classic, romantic or pared-back white interior. The white biscuit combines well with old wood, linen and grey or chalky tones. Condition: good. No breaks, glued repairs or restorations seen, including on the fingers and the little flower. A few small dark specks on the base and the rock and some ingrained dirt in the recesses, as is common with biscuit.