ANNA QUINQUAUD (1890-1984) SCULPTOR & MANUFACTURE NATIONALE DE SÈVRES Femme porteuse d'eau Songoï, also known as La porteuse d'eau de Tombouctou, or Négresse à l'amphore, the model designed around [1925], the plaster cast of the model presented at the Galerie d'Art contemporain (Paris) in 1926, the soft stoneware edition of only 7 made between 1930 and 1933, the only polychrome enameled soft stoneware proof known to date Sculpture. Polychrome-glazed soft stoneware proof. A chip on the lower corner of the terrace. Signed and dated A. QUINQUAUD 1925 on the terrace, bears the date stamp (date not legible) of the Manufacture Nationale de SÈVRES and the mention AR and the stamp GT (for grès tendre) on the lateral part of the terrace. Height: 47.5cm Terrace: 11x12cm Historical background: Anna Quinquaud signed a contract with Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres on August 16, 1927 for the ceramic edition of the sculpture Femme porteuse d'eau Songoï. Only 7 proofs in soft stoneware were produced; 2 in 1930, 2 in 1931, and 3 in 1933 (with no distinction between glazed and unglazed versions). Nine cookie proofs were also produced; 2 in 1927 and 7 in 1928. The mold was discontinued in 1942 under the direction of Guillaume Jeanneau, then director of the factory. In all, six different sculptures by Anna Quinquaud were produced in ceramic by the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres between the 1930s and 1940s, all in extremely limited editions. The plaster cast of our sculpture model was first shown at the "Mes travaux de voyage" exhibition in Paris in 1926 - where the artist's work from her first trip to Africa was exhibited. Public collection: Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres - A polychrome plaster proof and a cookie porcelain proof of our sculpture model are held in the collections of this institution under inventory numbers 2012.D.643 and PL-C488. Exhibition: - Anna Quinquaud: Mes travaux de voyage - Galerie d'art contemporain, Paris, October 30 to November 13, 1926. A plaster proof of our sculpture model exhibited at this event (N°11). - Les grès de Sèvres au XXe siècle - Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris, May 17 - June 9, 1990. A stoneware proof of La Négresse à l'amphore exhibited at this event. Bibliography: - Les œuvres de la Manufacture de Sèvres 1738-1932, volume II, la sculpture moderne - Éditions de la manufacture, Sèvres, circa 1932. A proof in non-polychromed soft stoneware or cookie reproduced on plate 42 under N°1397. - Les grès de Sèvres au XXe siècle - Catalogue of the exhibition organized at Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris (May 17 - June 9, 1990), Éditions de la galerie, Paris, 1990. A stoneware proof of La Négresse à l'amphore cited among the works exhibited. - Jean-Paul Midant - Sèvres - La Manufacture au XXème Siècle - Michel Aveline éditeur, 1992. Porcelain bisque variant reproduced on page 95. - Anne Doridou-Heim - Anna Quinquaud, exploratrice, sculptrice - Voyage dans les années 30 - Somogy Éditions d'Art, Paris, 2011. The polychrome plaster proof of our sculpture Femme porteuse d'eau Songoï reproduced on pages 68 and 159; the model referenced among the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres editions on page 158. - Marie-Josèphe Conchon - Thérèse et Anna Quinquaud, la sculpture en partage - Les Ardents Éditeur, Limoges, 2022. A plaster proof of our sculpture model reproduced on page 105.