Oriental Figurine

The Ginori production has always been characterized by a substantial number of figures for table decorations that, in the 18^th century, were intended to represent a miniature theatrical stage. Among the various series created by the factory for this purpose, one of the most interesting is certainly that of the so-called Orientals, characters depicted wearing Near Eastern costumes, modelled on printed figurative templates. 

The polychrome Persian woman, presented here, faithfully reproduces an engraving by Jean-Baptiste Van Mour included in the publication Recueil de cent estampes représentant différentes nations du Levant (Paris 1714) by Charles-Augustin de Ferriol, Count d’Argental (1700-1788). That this printed volume is the graphic archetype for some figures in the afore mentioned Orientals series is confirmed by the presence of a copy in the rare books collection of the Museo Ginori Library. 

This series, produced from the early 1760s, is recorded as comprising 24 specimens in the factory’s Inventory of Models, demonstrating the great interest at that time in Turqueries and, more generally, in the exotic.