Bronze with brown patina "Amour pensif" after Etienne-Maurice FALCONNET (1716-1791), a famous work commissioned by Madame de Pompadour, whose plaster model was exhibited at the Salon of 1755. The marble statue - presented two years later - adorned the gardens of the Hôtel d'Evreux, the future Palais de l'Elysée, the Marquise's Parisian home at the time. The subject is Harpocrates, the God of Silence, with his finger on his lips. It stands on a circular base of green-veined white marble, surrounded by a string of gilded bronze pearls. FALCONNET's composition was widely distributed during his lifetime, and even more so throughout the 19th century. Circa 1870 Perfect condition. diam. of base 17cm height 31cm