Bust of Marquis Carlo Ginori
Gaspero Bruschi (attributed)
Two porcelain versions are known of the bust of Marquis Carlo Ginori, founder in 1737 of the Doccia Manufactory: in one, he is depicted wearing the robes of a senator, while in the other he is represented with a cuirass that probably alludes to the office of governor of Livorno he assumed in 1746.
A comparison between the two busts reveals stylistic similarities suggesting that both were conceived by the sculptor Gaspero Bruschi, who was employed at the manufactory as chief modeller from its foundation.
Of the iconographic type corresponding to our example, four others are known in private collections, differing in some decorative elements, including the embroidery of the jabot, possibly made by applying a frilled cotton piece soaked in porcelain and affixed to the bust before firing.
This type of bust has been connected to a porcelain plaque made at Doccia between 1757 and 1760 and preserved in the Ginori Museum (inv. 927), where the marquis—although shown in profile—is represented in the same manner. The portrait on the plaque is based on a commemorative bronze medal cast in 1757, the year of the marquis’s death (Florence, National Museum of the Bargello, inv. 7698)
Given the similarities between our bust, this medal, and the entry recorded in the Inventory of the Doccia Gallery in the year 1759: “n. 1 bust of H.E. trimmed and tidied,” we can hypothesize that its execution dates between 1757 and 1759.
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Bust of Marquis Carlo Ginori.
Two porcelain versions are known of the bust of Marquis Carlo Ginori, founder in 1737 of the Doccia Manufactory: in one, he is depicted wearing the robes of a senator, while in the other he is represented with a cuirass that probably alludes to the office of governor of Livorno he assumed in 1746.
A comparison between the two busts reveals stylistic similarities suggesting that both were conceived by the sculptor Gaspero Bruschi, who was employed at the manufactory as chief modeller from its foundation.
Of the iconographic type corresponding to our example, four others are known in private collections, differing in some decorative elements, including the embroidery of the jabot, possibly made by applying a frilled cotton piece soaked in porcelain and affixed to the bust before firing.
This type of bust has been connected to a porcelain plaque made at Doccia between 1757 and 1760 and preserved in the Ginori Museum (inv. 927), where the marquis—although shown in profile—is represented in the same manner. The portrait on the plaque is based on a commemorative bronze medal cast in 1757, the year of the marquis’s death (Florence, National Museum of the Bargello, inv. 7698)
Given the similarities between our bust, this medal, and the entry recorded in the Inventory of the Doccia Gallery in the year 1759: “n. 1 bust of H.E. trimmed and tidied,” we can hypothesize that its execution dates between 1757 and 1759.
