Of all the artists who worked at the Sèvres Manufactory during the eighteenth century, François Boucher (1703–1770) was by far the most important. He provided the models for most of the sculptures produced at Sèvres at the time, including those presented here. He designed numerous types of Enfants (then known as Enfants Boucher), sculptures of young children engaged in various, sometimes unexpectedly mature activities, as in The Drunkard. Boucher also created Pastorales, groups of nobles dressed as shepherds and shepherdesses in idyllic rural settings, a genre that enjoyed great success, as well as scenes drawn from contemporary theatrical plays.

Boucher likely played a crucial role in the development of biscuit at Sèvres. A famed painter, he was concerned about the translation of his drawings into three-dimensional objects and must have been dissatisfied with the sometimes clumsy figures originally produced at Vincennes. Possibly at Boucher’s suggestion, an experienced sculptor, Pierre Blondeau (worked at Sèvres, 1752–53), was employed to develop proper models that could be used to produce sculptures with consistent dimensions and quality.

In 1748 the shareholders of the young Vincennes Manufactory noted that: “The sculpture workshop can achieve perfection only by placing at the head of the workshop a leader who makes the artisans work and is responsible for giving the pieces his master stroke.”

They found the ideal candidate in Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791), a sculptor and member of the Académie Royale, who had just created L’Amitié (Friendship). With the protection of Madame de Pompadour, in whose likeness this sculpture was created, Falconet was appointed head artist in charge of sculpture in 1757, a position he kept until 1766.

At Sèvres, Falconet was required to come to the workshop just one day per week. He brought new models, supervised their execution, and inspected the sculptures ready to be fired, engraving his certification—a capital F—on those that he judged to be good. This schedule allowed him to continue his private practice as a sculptor, producing work for his own clientele. There was a clear understanding that works Falconet created elsewhere could also be adapted by the Sèvres Manufactory.

Like Boucher, Falconet provided models of Enfants, for example, The Apple Eater, and designed groups representing Pastorales and theatrical plays such as The Château Celebration and Urgèle, the Fairy. He also occasionally provided models for single figures, like the famous Bather.

The manufactory’s new administrator, Melchior-François Parent (1716–1782), made an unexpected hiring decision in 1773. For the position of “head artist in charge of sculpture,” Parent recruited Louis-Simon Boizot (1743–1809), a young sculptor only recently admitted to the Académie Royale. Perhaps this choice was influenced by Boizot’s working relationship with the comtesse Du Barry (1743–1793), mistress to Louis XV (r. 1715–74). It was nevertheless a successful hire, and Boizot retained his position for twenty-seven years, guiding Sèvres through a fruitful, prosperous period and then a tumultuous one.

Like his immediate predecessors as head artist, Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791) and Jean Jacques Bachelier (1724–1806), Boizot designed vases and table services and provided models for groups and figures. Like Falconet, Boizot was able to continue his own career as a sculptor, exhibiting works at the annual Salon organized by the Académie Royale, some of which were adapted for use at Sèvres. Boizot recommended that the manufactory hire many other sculptors to assist him, including several of his students at the Académie as well as Jacques-Auguste Collet.

Boizot presided over Sèvres during the French Revolution, although he was absent for a period between 1792 and 1793, leaving the sculptors without their head artist. Influenced by revolutionary ideals, some young workers left to fight or serve on committees in the town of Sèvres, but most older artists remained, insulating the manufactory from the worst of the upheaval. Production was limited, but it continued. At first, smaller objects proliferated; later, busts and portraits—especially in the form of medallions—were almost all that went into the kilns. During the months of the Terror, production consisted almost entirely of portraits of the heroes and martyrs of the day. Beginning in 1798, the vast majority of sales were busts and medallions representing Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821).