Model by Franz Anton Bustelli, Neudeck 1755; moulding and decoration, Nymphenburg circa 1760/65
13.7 cm high / 19 cm wide
Provenance: Bustelli collection from Bavarian noble ownership; Ringier Collection (Christie’s, 11 December 2007, no. 137)
The group was modeled by Franz Anton Bustelli in his first year of work, 1755, for the manufactory in Neudeck, and ranks among his earliest works (cf. Hofmann Vol. III, p. 444, ill. in Vol. II, plate 10). In the assessment of Katharina Hantschmann, curator of the porcelain collection at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, our example (without the ruin background) may represent the original prototype for the later so-called "Lovers in the Ruin." This assumption is supported not only by the absence of the ruin motif but also by the early, characteristic coloring. Rückert describes the later variant as depicting a meeting at a secluded spot within a castle. It may be surmised that our version was conceived by Bustelli as the direct precursor to this scene. No comparable examples of this early variant are known to date.
The situation is different for the variant with the ruin, for which comparable pieces are known:
-Rothschild Collection (Christie's, 17 October 1977, no. 213)
-Bäuml Collection, cat. nos. 69, 70
-Kaumheimer Collection (Christie's, 8 December 2023, no. 59)
-Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (op. cit.)
-Oetker Collection (2014, no. 37)
-Rockefeller Collection, no. 195
-Untermyer Collection (Plate 121, Fig. 184 = ex Collection R. von Hirsch)
-Collection of Baron von und zu Franckenstein, Schloss Ullstadt
-Georg Hirth Collection, no. 224
Bustelli created only six large figure groups in total, to which our pair of lovers belongs (Hofmann ibid.) – later he devoted himself exclusively to single figures. According to Hofmann, the group was probably conceived as the centerpiece of a table decoration, accompanied by companion pieces such as the Disturbed Sleeper and the Jealous Cavalier.
Rückert (p. 14) emphasizes the dramatic staging: the scene exemplifies Bustelli's mastery in capturing the most expressive and tension-filled moment — in our case, the instant in which the girl seeks to resist the importunate young man. "His importunate yet tender wooing stands in vivid contrast to the almost audible cry of the desired one." (Rückert ibid.)
