Lucinda ca. 1760 Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory Figures and figure groups were produced at the major porcelain factories in Europe during the middle decades of the eighteenth century, but the quality of sculptural production varied considerably from factory to factory. The popularity of figures as decoration for the dessert table motivated each concern to find talented modelers, but many of the sculptors who worked in porcelain were not able to fully exploit the possibilities posed by the challenging medium. In contrast, the work produced by Franz Anton Bustelli (Swiss, d. 1763) at the Nymp

Lucinda ca. 1760 Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory Figures and figure groups were produced at the major porcelain factories in Europe during the middle decades of the eighteenth century, but the quality of sculptural production varied considerably from factory to factory. The popularity of figures as decoration for the dessert table motivated each concern to find talented modelers, but many of the sculptors who worked in porcelain were not able to fully exploit the possibilities posed by the challenging medium. In contrast, the work produced by Franz Anton Bustelli (Swiss, d. 1763) at the Nymphenburg fac-tory in the years 1754–63 is unsurpassed in terms of its expressive quality and sculptural mastery, and Bustelli’s achievements, following those of Johann Joachim Kändler (German, 1706–1775) at Meissen, reaffirmed the viability of porcelain as a serious medium for little is known of Bustelli’s life other than he may have been born in the Italian region of Switzerland known as Ticino, and he was employed at the Nymphenburg factory from November 1754 until his death in April 1763.[1] While it is improbable that Bustelli had not gained experience in another porcelain factory, nothing is known of his experience prior to his arrival at Nymphenburg. Alfred Ziffer has suggested that Bustelli trained with the Munich court sculptor Johann Baptist Straub (German, 1704–1784),[2] but documentary proof has yet to be discovered. Bustelli’s talents must have been quickly apparent to the factory’s administrators, and he proved to be remarkably prolific, modeling approximately 120 figures and groups in his first six and a half years at the factory.[3]Among these figures were sixteen drawn from the Italian comedy, and they are commonly regarded as some of the finest porcelain sculptures of the eighteenth century.[4] Interestingly, Bustelli chose the characters to be represented from both the long- established commedia dell’arte and the more recent Thé

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