Attributed to Johann Heinrich von Dannecker

Former collection of a Lady;

Christie's, London, 6 December 2012, lot 172;

Private collection, UK

This charming bust of a child demonstrates the stylistic trademarks of one of Germany's most important Neoclassical sculptors, Johann Heinrich von Dannecker. Dannecker's signature style can be noted in the skilled carving of the curling hair, which compares closely to his bust of Schiller in the MFG/ Zentralbibliothek der deutchen Klassik (inv. no. Pl 32/1980). Dannecker carved several marble busts of children, some of which are now in the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart (inv. nos. P 533, P 559) and demonstrate a similar carving of the soft rounded cheeks, open blank eyes with pronounced eyelids, and with similar truncation around the shoulders.

RELATED LITERATURE:

C. Von Holst, Johann Heinrich Dannecker der Bildhauer, exh. cat. Stuttgart Staatsgalerie, 1997, nos. 104, 111-112, 137