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The Mouse Catchers

Modeler Giuseppe Gricci Italian
ca. 1745–50
Not on view
Genre sculpture at Capodimonte has a directness and reality quite distinct from that produced at other Continental porcelain factories. Capodimonte figures are not the picturesque street peddlers of Edme Bouchardon’s Cris de Paris; nor are they the idealized lovers and children inspired by Boucher, J. E. Nilson, and their followers. They are, rather, genuine peasants, tradesmen, and young couples encountering daily life, portrayed unsentimentally but with sympathy and humor.

In this group, one of only two known examples of the model, the routing of mice from a linen chest is depicted in a manner in which energy and apprehension are charmingly combined. From the modeling of the figures with their small heads, and the spare painting, it would seem that the group dates from the early period of the factory’s work and perhaps anticipates a later one in a similar vein, the Rabbit Catchers.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Mouse Catchers
  • Manufactory: Capodimonte Porcelain Manufactory (Italian, 1740/43–1759)
  • Modeler: Giuseppe Gricci (Italian, ca. 1700–1770)
  • Date: ca. 1745–50
  • Culture: Italian, Naples
  • Medium: Soft-paste porcelain
  • Dimensions: Height: 5 7/8 in. (14.9 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain
  • Credit Line: Gift of Douglas Dillon, 1983
  • Object Number: 1983.488.3
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Mourning Virgin, Capodimonte Porcelain Manufactory Italian, Soft-paste porcelain, Italian, Naples
The Mourning Virgin
Manufactory Capodimonte Porcelain Manufactory
Modeler Giuseppe Gricci
ca. 1744
Smallsword, Tortoiseshell, gold, silver, steel, Western European, probably Naples
Smallsword
Western European, probably Naples
ca. 1720
Cupid ("L'Amour Menaçant"), Sèvres Manufactory French, Soft-paste biscuit porcelain, French, Sèvres
Cupid ("L'Amour Menaçant")
Manufactory Sèvres Manufactory
Modeler After a model by Etienne-Maurice Falconet
ca. 1761
St. John the Evangelist, Capodimonte Porcelain Manufactory Italian, Soft-paste porcelain, Italian, Naples
St. John the Evangelist
Manufactory Capodimonte Porcelain Manufactory
Modeler Giuseppe Gricci
ca. 1744
Pair of Flintlock Pistols Made for Ferdinand IV, King of Naples and Sicily (1751–1825), Royal Arms Manufactory at Torre Annunziata Italian, Steel, gold, wood (walnut), silver, Italo-Spanish, Naples
Pair of Flintlock Pistols Made for Ferdinand IV, King of Naples and Sicily (1751–1825)
Manufacturer Royal Arms Manufactory at Torre Annunziata
Gunsmith Michele Battista
Barrelsmith Emanuel Esteva
ca. 1768

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