Child (one of a pair) 1776 - 1786

This porcelain sculpture of a child carrying a basket of fruit was made at the Fulda Pottery and Porcelain Manufactory in Germany between 1764 and 1789. These were years when porcelain manufactories were being established by royal families across Europe and, in the many independent states that made up Germany, by local princely rulers. These leaders sought both prestige and revenue from the production of luxury goods. So, while this sculpture might seem an innocent depiction of childhood, we also need to see it as a product of economic and social ambition. The Fulda factory looked to the famous Sevres factory near Paris as its model, employing French artisans to produce high-quality wares in the latest style. Historians consult business records, diplomatic correspondence, and even archaeological reports to understand the intersection of art, economics, and politics in earlier eras. Art always emerges from a specific institutional and social context.