A lovely Copeland Parian group of Paul and Virginia

A lovely finely-detailed Copeland Parian group of Paul and Virginia by Charles Cumberworth (1811 – 1852) designed in 1846, showing the young lovers looking at a bird’s nest containing eggs. Impressed Copeland.

Paul et Virginie (or Paul and Virginia) is a short novel by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, first published in 1788 and set on the island of Mauritius. It tells the story of two childhood friends who grow up and fall in love. They are separated and the story ends tragically as they are about to meet again.  The novel was  hugely popular in France and beyond, well into the 19^th century.

Charles Cumberworth was French and exhibited at the Paris Salon. He designed several Parian figures for Copeland.

This group is illustrated in the “Parian Phenomenon” on page 150, fig 511 and in Robert Copeland’s “Parian: Copeland’s Statuary Porcelain” page 113. It was also manufactured as two separate figures, also by Cumberworth for Copeland. Other manufacturers also made versions. 

Height: 30½ cm (12”).

Condition. Very good. Some professional restoration to the girl’s hand and a faint line from the base behind the boy.