each modelled as three patinated biscuit porcelain female herms, wearing pharonic headdresses and draped costume, on a tri-form pedestal base applied with rams head masks at the shoulder resting on paw feet, the central tazza with the herm figures enriched in in gilding, supporting a large pierced moulded basket, the base with tooled gilded Egyptian symbols reserved on a matt-black ground, the pair supporting shallow bowls with tooled-gilded neoclassical grotesque borders of griffins, arabesques and amphora, the pedestal bases enriched with similar classical motifs,

RELATED LITERATURE
Régine de Plinvil de Guillebon, Dagoty à Paris, La Manufacture de porcelain de l'impératrice, exhibition catalogue, Musée national des châteaux de Malmaison et de Bois-Préau, 2006, pp. 136-138.

In overall good condition and appearance. To the tazza in the right of the catalogue illustration, one herm figure has two restored toes.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The mode for ‘retour d'Egypte’ flourished through the French porcelain manufactories in the first decade of the 19^th century, which was a direct response to Napoleon’s conquests in Egypt of 1798-1801. The method of replicating bronze in porcelain is first seen in 1802 at Sèvres when Benoît Chanou developed a short-lived new material called pâte bronze [bronze paste], which is perhaps best seen in the inkwell model 'Ecritoire Egyptienne'.ⁱ

The Dagoty porcelain factory was located in the rue de Chevreuse in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, established by brothers Pierre-Louis (1771-1840) and Etienne-Jean-Baptiste Dagoty (1772-1800). Pierre-Louis became sole owner in 1804 and it was around this time the factory received the patronage of Empress Joséphine. The factory was renowned for the quality of their gilding and produced highly finished models in the Egyptian taste. See the pair of female figures sold in these rooms, 15^th May 2014, lot 258; the models were almost certainly based on the watercolour design by the French architect Charles Percier (1764-1838).ⁱⁱ

It seems probable the present tazze were inspired by models commonly attributed to the celebrated French bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843). The figures can be compared to the models seen in pairs of figural candelabra, a pair of which sold in the Bernard Steinitz sale, Sotheby’s Paris, 30^th June 2016, lot 144.ⁱⁱⁱ A particularly close surtout de table single Herm figure in ‘bronzed porcelain’, modelled with drapery and gilded pharaonic headdress is published in the Dagoty exhibition catalogue, op. cit, 125.

Two Dagoty pen and ink wash designs for similar centrepieces formed of three Herms in near-identical dress, though supporting shallow pierced baskets are in the collection of the V&A museum, London, museum nos. 3236:1 and D.2312:105-1885. The gilded frieze on the two shallow bowls can be seen on a matt-black ground bowl and stand and a red-ground bowl illustrated in the Dagoty exhibition catalogue, op. cit., cat nos. 60 and 61. _{i See Marie-Nëlle Pinot de Villechenon, Sèvres Porcelain from the Sèvres Museum 1740 to the Present Day, London, 1997, p. 52, fig. 51.
ii In the collection of Musée de Louvre, Paris, ref. RF30630, published by Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, Vol. I, p. 336 fig. 5.3.4; Bronzed porcelain Egyptian figures were incorporated into an ice-pail model, an example marked by Dagoty is in the Turn-und-Taxis Collection, Reinhold Baumstark, Thurn und Taxis Museum Regensburg, Höfische Kunst und Kultur, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, 1998, no. 105D. A pair of this type was sold at Christie’s New York, 18^th October 2002, lot 435.
iii The pair were Acquired by Adrien Godard d’Aucour de Plancy (1778-1871), husband of Sophie-Dorothée Lebrun (1787-1851),daughter of Charles-François Lebrun (1739-1824)Third Consul under the Consulat, duc de Plaisance and Prince Arch-Treasurer under the Empire, at château de Plancy, Aube France. A further pair is recorded in the Spanish Royal Collection, now in the Throne Room in the Royal Palace in Madrid, illustrated El Palacio Real de Madrid, Monografias de Sitios Reales, Madrid, 1975, p. 109 and 111.}