Oriental Figurine

Since its inception, Ginori production has been characterized by a substantial number of figures intended for table decoration, in the eighteenth century understood as a true miniature theatrical machine. Among the various series created by the manufactory for this purpose, one of the most interesting is certainly that of the so-called Orientals, characters depicted wearing Near Eastern costumes, modeled on printed figurative templates. 

The polychrome Persian woman, presented here, faithfully follows 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 aforementioned 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 manufactory’s Inventory of Models, demonstrating the great interest at that time in Turqueries and, more generally, in the taste for the exotic.