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Mother and Child, based on the print, “Le mérite de tout pais”

ca. 1749–50
Not on view
This rare figural group by the Chelsea porcelain manufactory is a moving and intimate portrayal of a mother and child playing yoyo with a cat. Wearing Chinese costumes, the group is based on a composition by François Boucher entitled “Le mérite de tout pais,” first issued as a print in 1742. Modeled around 1749-50 by the Flemish sculptor Joseph Willems, the work is one of only two known recorded examples of this composition and is the only enameled example. It represents an early and experimental work, as Chelsea attempted more ambitious compositions of figural sculpture.



The ornamented costumes worn by the two figures evoke Chinoiserie, a style that drew upon eighteenth-century Britain’s obsession with China and its luxuries and evoked the “faraway” and the “exotic.” Here instead, Willems humanizes the figures. The scene playing out is familiar and intimate, a story of motherly caution and childish abandon.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mother and Child, based on the print, “Le mérite de tout pais”
  • Manufactory: Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory (British, 1744–1784)
  • Designer: based on a design by François Boucher (French, Paris 1703–1770 Paris)
  • Modeler: Joseph Willems (Flemish, 1716–1766)
  • Enameler: possibly enameled in the workshop of William Duesbury (1725–1786)
  • Date: ca. 1749–50
  • Culture: British, Chelsea
  • Medium: Soft-paste porcelain with polychrome enamel decoration
  • Dimensions: confirmed: 8 7/8 × 6 × 4 5/8 in. (22.5 × 15.2 × 11.7 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Larry and Ann Burns Gift, in honor of Austin B. Chinn, 2023
  • Object Number: 2023.433
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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