A Polychrome Terracotta Sculpture By Fontaine & Durieux Depicting A Young Woman, Signed L. Vergnano.

- Large cold-painted polychrome terracotta figure from the Fontaine & Durieux manufactory—located in L'Isle-Adam Val-d'Oise
   department, Paris regiondepicting a young woman with a pitcher in her right hand and her left hand resting on a tree trunk,
   gazing at two doves at her feet.
- Signed by the artist incised in the terracotta L. Vergnano on the rear edge of the base titled on the front on a gilt brass plaque
   with black filled engraving reading Énigme de la cruche cassée  The Mystery of the Broken Pitcher by L. Vergnano.
- Circular maker's mark on the back of the piece (on the edge), featuring the intertwined letters F&D for Fontaine & Durieux at
   the center and the inscription Fontaine & Durieux Paris.
- Model number 407 incised beneath the circular mark.
- Lorenzo Vergnano: Italian sculptor, born in Cambiano, Italy, in 1850 died in Turin in 1910.
- He was one of the principal sculptors working for Alphonse Hanne and his successors in the field of art ceramics his signature
   appears on the pieces he created.
- He served as a sculpture professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris during 1885–1886, teaching artistic sculpture to his
   students.
- The art terracotta manufactory under the direction of Albert Fontaine and Louis Durieux (1912–1919).
- The factory had been closed for eight months when, on June 15, 1912, partners Albert Fontaine and Louis Durieux took over
  the art terracotta manufacturing business that had belonged to Léon Labat himself the first successor to Alphonse Hanne, who
  had acquired it at auction on September 28, 1909, for the sum of ten thousand francs.
- Albert Fontaine and Louis Durieux were former sales representatives for Alphonse Hanne they were also publishers and
  manufacturers of painted plaster and terracotta figures. Following the sale, Fontaine and Durieux established via a private
  agreement and for a ten-year term a general partnership dedicated to the manufacture and sale of plaster and terracotta
   objects.
- The company was headquartered in Paris at 47 Rue de Paradis, where the Durieux family would reside next door to their
   fellow manufacturer Goldscheider at number 45.
- Fontaine and Durieux retained Alphonse Hanne’s former shop on Rue de Hauteville.
- They drew upon the years of experience gained working with Alphonse Hanne in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of
   the factory's products.
- They succeeded in turning the business around with the invaluable assistance of the Lepoivres a couple who had previously
   worked at the Labat factory, having left just a few months earlier.
- It is worth noting that the war years were favorable for terracotta production, as metals were reserved for national defense.
- Fontaine and Durieux’s output over their eight years of operation was substantial, with their factory producing more than
   three thousand different terracotta models.
- After successfully growing the business, Fontaine and Durieux wished to retire. - Under the terms of a private agreement
   dated December 15, 1919.
- It is not known what prompted the sale of their business or what they did subsequently.
- Large pieces produced by Fontaine and Durieux bear an impressed round stamp, two centimeters in diameter,
   featuring the circular inscription Fontaine et Durieux Paris and the intertwined initials "F.D." in the center.
- Period : first quarter of the 20th century, circa 1912–1919.

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