A gilt-bronze and bronze patinated figure of a female Egyptian with hardstone base and tazza, designed by Andrei Voronikhin, St. Petersburg, circa 1808

the figure adorned with gilt-bronze tunic and headdress stands with upraised arms holding a tazza and cover of Tulyakov jasper on a pedestal of masnoy agate, the pedestal flanked by gilded Egyptian lions, mounted at the centre with a gilded mask and at the base with scarab beetles, snakes, a bird and cow, the domed bronze tazza cover similarly decorated surmounted with a pineapple finial

An impressive piece. The pineapple surmount to the lid is very slightly bent. The applied gilt-bronze motifs are possibly regilded. The patinated lid has old marks and scratches entirely consistent with age. The hardstone urn is generally in good order. There are rim chips to the turned components. There is also a localised area of filler approximately 1cm. in diameter. The cast foliate wreath on which the urn rests is loose. The bronze and gilt-bronze patina of the figure has some wear consistent with age. There are small nicks at the wrist and forearm of the left arm. There is a filled rim chip to the right edge proper approximately 5mm. in diameter. Some elements of the base may be later. There is a casting hole to the back of one of the lions. The component on which the figure stands slightly overhangs the lower section of the plinth. Some of the applied motifs are slightly loose. A dramatic and rare lot.
"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."

This very decorative Egyptian figure was almost certainly modelled on a design by the serf artisan Andrei Voronikhin currently held in the Pavlovsk Palace collection, see fig. 1. In his essay on Voronikhin published in Stroganoff: The Palace and Collections of a Russian Noble Family, the chief curator of the Pavlovsk Museum, Alexei Guzanov, relates the drawing to a similar figure in the Palace Collection in bronze holding aloft a large coupé in pink granite and to a pair held in the Hermitage Collection, figs 2 and 3.  The offered lot is comparable in quality, composition and date to the examples shown but is most closely related to the pair of Egyptian figures held in the Hermitage Collection.

The inventory of the State Hermitage Museum describes a "vase in yellowish fissured quartz, supported by a figure of an Egyptian woman in dark bronze and ormolu. Base (sic) formed by two plinths in variegated granite and appliqué hieroglyphs in bronze. After a drawing by A.N. Voronikhin. Made at the Ekaterinburg factory in 1808. Bronze by P. Agie (cast at the Academy of fine Arts.) H. 227cm W. 59cm"[1]

Andrei Nikiforovich Voronikhin (1759-1814) born into serfdom was nonetheless recognised during his lifetime as one of Russia's most respected and influential architects and designers. He worked in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and his architectural works include the Kazan Cathedral on Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg. However he is best known for his mastery of decorative art and interior ensembles, much of which was carried out for the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna.

His extraordinary success from very humble beginnings is in part due to the sponsorship of Voronikhin by Count Alexander Sergeivich Stroganov. Although officially born to serfs on Stroganov's estate in the Perm Province in the Ural Mountains, it is widely believed that he was the Count's illegitimate son. The favourable education given to the young boy would further support this notion. Voronikhin' artistic training began in his native province; later in 1777 he was sent to Moscow to study architecture, perspective and miniature painting under the architects V.I. Bazhenov and M.F. Kazakov.

In 1779 Alexander Stroganov sent Voronikhin to St Petersburg where he carried out minor architectural projects on buildings owned by the Stroganov family and was appointed serf artist to Alexander's son Paul. He attended lessons given to Paul by the Frenchman Gilbert Romme and accompanied Paul and Romme on educational trips within Russia and abroad. After Voronikhin was given his freedom in 1786 the three embarked on a European tour. Their visit to France coincided with a particular fascination with the Egyptian aesthetic. The representation of obelisks, sphinxes, and pyramids in architecture and decorative arts was already fashionable, but it was Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798 which led to full-blown Egyptomania. The plundered Egyptian artefacts were exhibited in Paris and studies from the expedition were published by Baron Denon in 1802.

As is clear from the design for the offered lot and the examples in Pavlovsk and the Hermitage, Voronikhin appreciated this new aesthetic and incorporated it into his work.  In 1802 the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna employed Voronikhin to work on the interiors of her half of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The following year, after a fire had destroyed much of the Dowager Empress' palace at Pavlovsk, Voronikhin was recommended by Stroganov to work of the restoration of the building. It was here that Voronikhin's mastery at designing interior ensembles was revealed. While respecting the work of his predecessors at Pavlovsk, he introduced ideas and motifs in keeping with the aesthetic fashion of the time, and making hundreds of drawings for furniture, vases, bronzes, porcelain items and lighting fixtures for the interiors of the palace.

The offered female Egyptian figure has been dated, circa 1808 as it fits with the Voronikhin works commissioned by the Empress at this period. The bronze mounts are comparable to the quality of those produced by the French bronze sculptor Pierre-Louis Agy whom we know from the Hermitage inventory was responsible for the mounts on the Hermitage examples of 1808; either made before his departure from Russia in 1805, or cast from moulds of his earlier work. The design upon which we believe this model and Hermitage examples were based has been loosely dated circa 1809 but could have been drawn slightly earlier. The choice of rare precious stones in this model, Tulyakov and masnoy agate is in keeping with the standards encouraged by Alexander Stroganov who was in charge of the Yekateringburg and Peterhof Lapidary Works at the time. According to Gazunov he "encouraged architects to participate actively in the stone-cutting production" and that the "direct collaboration between designers and artisans that occurred during this period under Count Stroganov yielded significantly improved results." Results which are clearly demonstrated in both the Hermitage figures and the offered lot.

Works produced after a design by Andrei Voronikhin are almost never found on the open market. As a result the price realised for a granite and gilt-bronze sculptural covered coupé attributed to Voronikhin sold at the Hotel Drout, Paris in April 2003 was a phenomenal 300,000 Euro. The only comparable models to the offered Egyptian female are held in the Hermitage and Pavlovsk Collections in Russia ranking this amongst the finest in Russian museum collections.

 

[1]    Inventory of State Hermitage Museum, pub. Stroyisdat 1989, inv. 2727, p.127, no.28