Pigalle excelled at sculptures of children, actors (often produced in pairs) that appear in minor stories from daily life. This figure of a boy crying over a bird that has just died is a fine example of his work. It was one of a pair with the figure of a girl who almost cruelly flaunts a live dove, hugging it to her chest.

Many of these figures were later transposed into porcelain. Like Falconet, Pigalle worked for Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s favourite, for ten years and was called on to run the Sèvres factory, which reproduced several of his masterpieces in biscuit.

Such is the realism of this full-length, seated figure of a chubby child that we almost want to reach out and comfort him.