Featured 1915 Sevres biscuit porcelain baby figurine, who is the artist?

Hi there! I picked this Sevres baby up at auction (my daughter thinks he's creepy, she's 11 ). He was covered in scuffs and pencil marks but magic eraser did wonders. It is marked S 1915 DN) and model 429. The designer's mark is either LG or LC. Any idea who LG or LC was? He may be missing a base that he sat on. Thanks for any help!

 

This brings out the iconographer in me. It looks like your infant has hands clasped in prayer and is looking down to one side, as if the object of his devotion were lying on the ground beside him. This suggests an infant St. John the Baptist adoring the Christ Child, as seen in many Renaissance paintings, such as this Piero di Cosimo in the Borghese Gallery: https://www.collezionegalleriaborghese.it/en/opere/adoration-of-the-christ-child .

Did Sevres make figural groups of several figurines? If I am right about this being a John the Baptist in adoration, the group would have included the Christ Child and probably a Virgin Mary adoring her infant son. (Angels would be possible additions.)
I asked google AI if Sevres made porcelain Nativity sets, and the answer was "no." As a creche would be a more usual group of figures, my idea of an "Adoration of the Christ Child" set of figurines may be a long shot. But what is the figure doing if not in prayer/adoration and turned to face the object of devotion? If it just a praying infant (example to a child who once owned it), why is he facing down?

 

Certainly interesting! I think some of these figures were based on 18th sculptures by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle and apparently reproduced by Sevres several times over the centuries. I can't find this particular one but there is one called Child with a Cage and another referred to as Little Bacchus, so some where at least allegorical figures and possibly religious.

 

Sorry, I went off on a iconographical tangent. I know nothing about the possible LC or LG stamped on your figure. Wait for someone knowledgable about Sevres figurines.

 

I appreciate your input and knowledge

 

The mark's not shown, and the maker isn't mentioned, but this one
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4478112

(also) has an LC mark, and was interesting enough for Christie's to sell to it (for GBP 420)

 

Google AI:
"Artist & Modeler Mark: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "LC" (or a similar monogram) is sometimes attributed to specific sculptors and flower modelers who worked for the ⁠Sèvres Porcelain Factory, such as decorators associated with the factory.

Impressed Date Code: Sèvres used stamped letters to date its creations. For instance, "LC" is a known impressed date mark used for 1906 (with 'L' denoting the year and 'C' usually indicating the cycle or specific workshop within that era). This mark is often found incised into the base of biscuit busts and figures."

So, LC is the artist/modeler mark, and coincidentally the date code is the same

 

Nice find thank you!

 

Or maybe it is just a praying putto in contapposto, and he looks down to illustrate humility.

 

Update on this one!

I contacted the Sevres National Museum (who were very helpful!) and they told me that, "LG brand, according to our documentation, was used by the moulder-repairer Louis Guéneau (working at the factory between 1885 and 1924). Document Va'095 folio 44/45, indicates that Louis Guéneau made this type of figurine in April 1915".

 

Fabulous! Thank you for sharing.

Debora

 

Great info! Now we all know (or some of us, cuz I'm sure this is gonna slip my age-ed brain!)