The figures are from the celebrated tomb of Jean de France (1340-1416), the third son of the French monarch Jean II le Bon. They carry an estimate of €4.5m-5m.
The tomb (smashed during the Revolution) was commissioned from Jean de Cambrai in Bourges c.1396-1416 but remained unfinished at the time of his patron’s death.
Christie’s marble mourners are among the five completed by de Cambrai before 1416 with others (there are 29 known from the original 40) carved later in the century by Etienne Bobillet and Paul Mosselmann c.1450-53.
In the same family since 1807, they are being sold by the same vendor who offered two alabaster figures from the tomb at Christie’s in November 2013. These other figures sold to a private collector for €3.5m (£3.07m).
