Porcelain Magot

Magot of exceptional dimensions with tilting head, tongue and hands. Material made entirely of porcelain, with the exception of the biscuit hands.

What are magots?
The word magot comes from the French: barbary ape. They are male or female figures with oriental features. Usually the material used for the representation was painted or decorated porcelain. The subject depicted, in a good-natured and pleasant way, is Pu-Tai. The Chinese god of happiness and abundance.

It is said that they brought good luck because, thanks to their head, tongue and jointed hands, they were able to warn earthquakes.

They arrived in Europe between the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century thanks to the first connections between European merchants (Venetian in particular) and Chinese. In the following decades, they became a status symbol to be displayed in aristocratic homes. They found fertile ground in Europe thanks to the fashion for the exotic that developed in the Old Continent during the first decades of the eighteenth century. This fashion can be found in various objects of the time, not only in the Magot, see the toilet objects and lacquered furnishings decorated with the famous chinoiseries.

In a few years, thanks to the increased demand, our factories also began working to satisfy this new form of collecting.

From the German ones, Meissen Dresden Rudolstadt, to the French ones, Saint Claude Samson and Chantilly, to the Italian ones.

True masterpieces were created throughout Northern Italy. The Piedmontese ones, made of papier-mâché, were then unusual.

Authenticity
Completely intact to the naked eye and the infrared lamp. The magot has only been thoroughly cleaned, in fact, for porcelain, we cannot speak of patina (dirt that is deposited over hundreds of years, which some buyers want to be present, for example, in antique wooden furniture) so once cleaned it goes back to like new.

You can see the signs of aging and therefore the originality thanks to the patina on the bottom and inside and, sometimes and as in this case, the presence of small streaks along the entire surface.

Image caption: 1. inside of the magot before being cleaned. 2. bottom of the magot still in "patina". 3. detail: biscuit hands 4. detail: streaks along the entire surface visible only up close and against the light.

Measurements and materials
Materials:
body and head in white porcelain, hands in biscuit

Dimensions:

h: 36 X l: 34 X depth: 28 [cm]

h: 14.17 x l: 13.38 x w: 11.02