This pair of figures are described as a ‘Tartar and Tartarin als Räucherhütchen’, Tartars as incense burners. Whilst closely related in attitude and the taste for the exotic, they are not part of Bustelli’s series of chinoiserie figures.

Bustelli is considered to have been the greatest of the Rococo porcelain sculptors, who, more than any other, appreciated the limitless plastic quality of porcelain. The fine ivory glaze of Nymphenburg at this period perfectly captures the fine detail of his modelling.

Little is known about Bustelli’s early life, he came from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, his career only lasted for nine years at the beginning of the factory and so the work done in his lifetime is rare. Hantschmann and Ziffer point out that his figures usually come in pairs which interact sympathetically.

His training in the carving of fruitwood is evident in planar knife cuts of the drapery and is strongly influenced by the work of his Munich contemporary Ignaz Gunter (1725-1775).

A coloured pair in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum is illustrated by Hantschmann and Ziffer 2004, pages 459-460.

Condition:
Chip to the back of her topknot and tip of his cap restored

References:

Hantschmann and Ziffer 2004
Katharina Hantschmann and Alfred Ziffer, Franz Anton Bustelli: Nymphenburger Porzellanfiguren des Rokoko, 2004

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