Daniel Chester French
Imposing on Good Nature

CultureEnglish
Titles
  • Imposing on Good Nature
Date1872
Made inStoke-on-Trent, England
MediumPorcelain (parian ware)
Dimensions5 × 9 3/4 × 4 1/2 in. (12.7 × 24.8 × 11.4 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by John H. Adger, M. Robert Dussler, Harry Gee, R. Cary McNair, Jamey Rootes, Scott Schwinger, Marc Shapiro, Rick Smith, and Joe Sutton in honor of Robert C. McNair and the Houston Texans at "One Great Night in November, 2010"
Object numberB.2011.3.1
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Belter Parlor
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionThis handsome pair of porcelain figures, Imposing on Good Nature and Retribution, is among the earliest surviving work by Daniel Chester French. Recognized today as one of the nation’s preeminent sculptors, he is most famous for Abraham Lincoln, the monumental sculpture commissioned for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. These beguiling figures were modeled for reproduction in parian, an unglazed porcelain that closely resembles the appearance and texture of marble. In Imposing on Good Nature, a small dog taunts a much larger but good natured canine; in the companion composition, Retribution, the larger dog has assumed a playful revenge.
Provenance[The Stradlings, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2011.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Engraved on the front of the base: "IMPOSING ON GOOD NATURE"
Engraved on the back of the base: "D.C. FRENCH"
English Registry mark on grassy ground, by larger dog's left leg: "IV / 2 / 2 Rd I / I"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Retribution
Daniel Chester French
1872
Porcelain (parian ware)
B.2011.3.2
Pitcher
William Bloor's East Liverpool Porcelain Works
c. 1861–1862
Porcelain (parian ware)
B.90.15
Daniel Webster
Thomas Ball
1853
Porcelain (parian ware)
B.86.1
Pitcher
United States Pottery Company
c. 1852–1858
Porcelain (parian ware)
B.97.18
Pitcher
United States Pottery Company
c. 1852–1858
Porcelain (parian ware)
B.97.17
Pitcher
United States Pottery Company
c. 1852–1858
Porcelain (parian ware)
B.98.17
Greek Slave
Robinson & Leadbeater
c.1860–1880
Porcelain (parian ware)
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scan of file photograph
United States Pottery Company
c. 1852–1858
Porcelain (parian ware) and pewter
B.98.18
Pitcher
United States Pottery Company
c. 1852–1858
Porcelain (parian ware)
B.99.9
Vase (one of a pair)
16th century
Stoneware with raised slip and enamels (Fahua ware)
2013.498.1
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Stoneware with raised slip and enamels (Fahua ware)
2013.498.2
Painted Wooden Coffin of the Sacred Ibis of Thoth
332–30 BC
Wood with polychrome decoration
2008.808