Bust of Don Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea

This rare large-scale faience portrait, one of only a few early examples known, embodies the Count of Aranda’s ambitious drive to develop the arts in his native Spain to a level that rivalled that of France and Germany. Don Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, 10th Count of Aranda (1718-1799), was a well-travelled man of the Enlightenment and a man ahead of his time. He inherited the prosperous Spanish ceramics factory at Alcora on his father’s death in 1742, and his progressive tastes were hugely influential on the factory’s practices and output. Aranda’s very varied career began with military success, and later he spent large periods of time travelling or in diplomatic service as Spanish Ambassador to Portugal, Poland and France, where he spent over a decade at the courts of Louis XV and Louis XVI. Between about 1750 and 1754, Aranda lived abroad, studying military tactics. He spent the majority of this time in Prussia, but he also visited Dresden, Paris and Vienna. While he was in Dresden it seems highly likely that he would have been inspired by the fine porcelain produced by Augustus III’s factory at nearby Meissen. At that time the chief modeller there, J.J. Kändler, was working on a monumental porcelain equestrian statue of Augustus, and it is tempting to speculate whether the count was aware of this project and whether this had any influence on the Alcora factory’s ceramic portraiture (although Kändler never completed this project, he did produce a monumental head of the King). Aranda was briefly Spanish Ambassador to Portugal in 1755, but even though he was recalled due to disagreements with the Portuguese statesman, Pombal, King Ferdinand VI still awarded Aranda the Order of the Golden Fleece. After King Ferdinand’s death, Aranda was staying in Zaragoza where the new King of Spain, Charles III, was delayed (due to the Queen’s ill health). This gave him the opportunity to ingratiate himself with Charles and having gained his favour Aranda’s political standing increased during the 1760s. He was appointed Ambassador to Poland, where he arrived in September 1760. Throughout his travels, the count was fascinated by other ceramic factories and their ability to produce porcelain. In 1764, he recruited Johann Christian Knipffer to introduce his porcelain-making expertise at Alcora (although ‘true’ hard-paste porcelain was never achieved at Alcora). Numerous appointments of skilled porcelain workers to Alcora would follow over time. From 1773 Aranda was Ambassador to the Court of Louis XV in France, where he remained until 1787. This may have been the most formative experience of his career. During this time he met Benjamin Franklin and he pressed the Spanish government to support the American revolution and adapt its approach to American-Spanish colonies. Also during this period of time, Aranda tried to glean as much as possible about porcelain production from Parisian factories, and in 1774 he recruited Francois Martin (possibly from Limoges) to work