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A work made of soft-paste unglazed porcelain (biscuit).

The Peep Show, or the Magic Lantern (La Curiosité ou La Lanterne Magique)

c. 1757

Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory French, founded 1740 Modeled by Etienne-Maurice Falconet (French, 1716-1791)

Sèvres

Beginning in the mid-1750s, biscuit, or unglazed porcelain, replaced glazed porcelain in sculpture because fine details were sometimes obscured by glazes. In addition, the matte surface of biscuit pieces resembled marble, a medium favored in sculpture. Unglazed porcelain figures were often sold with dinner services, and, as such, they replaced fragile sugar figures, which had adorned dessert tables of the previous era.

Soft-paste unglazed porcelain (biscuit)

Applied Arts of Europe