After the Antique Italian, 19th century

Mary Caroline Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Dowager Duchess of Sutherland (1848-1912), Carbisdale Castle, Scottish Highlands, circa 1906;
Colonel Theodore Salvesen (1863-1942), Carbisdale Castle, Scottish Highlands, 1933;
by family descent to Captain Harold Keith Salvesen (1897-1970), Carbisdale Castle, Scottish Highlands, 1942;
gifted to the Scottish Youth Hostels Association, 1945

Overall the condition of the marble is good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. One of the middle fingers of the proper left hand is lost. There are some small naturally occurring inclusions to the marble, notably to the back and to the buttocks. There is some minor veining consistent with the material including to across the buttocks, the abdomen, and the legs at the front. There are some small chips and abrasions, including to the tail of the dolphin. There is particular dirt to the base. The wood plinth is in good condition with a few small chips and abrasions and minor stable splitting.
"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 recent discovery of Willem van Tetrode’s bronze reduction of the Venus de’Medici revealed that this most iconic of antique marble Venuses was known as early as the mid-16th century. By 1638, the Venus was certainly located in the Villa Medici in Rome, from which she acquired her name. In 1677 she was sent to Florence and installed in the Tribuna of the Uffizi, where she remains to this day, having been briefly replaced by Antonio Canova’s Venus Italica during her sojourn in France between 1803 and 1815. Thought to be a Graeco-Roman adaptation of the fabled Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles, the Venus de’Medici counts among the most glorified and controversial statues from antiquity. Every inch of the marble has been scrutinised in her long reception history, from Lord Byron’s gushing “description of the indescribable” to the Duke of Shrewsbury’s criticism of her arms. It is perhaps partly because of her illustrious position and provenance that the Venus de’Medici is the most famous of several ancient marbles depicting the goddess in the alluring pudica pose, notably the Capitoline Venus. The statue’s notorious beauty inspired countless copies throughout the centuries, including plaster casts, full-size marbles and reductions in bronze. The present marble is a faithful copy of particularly high quality, likely produced for the connoisseurial grand tour market. Note the finely modelled features and the high level of detail in the dolphin support.

RELATED LITERATURE

F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique. The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven/London, 1982, pp. 325-328

Carbisdale Castle: A History

Carbisdale Castle is a magnificent Scots Baronial residence situated in the heart of the Highlands, overlooking the beautiful Kyle of Sutherland. Constructed between 1906 and 1917, it was the last Castle to be built in Scotland. Its history is one of intrigue, scandal, war and peace, at the centre of which lies the formidable figure of its first resident, Mary Caroline, Dowager Duchess of Sutherland (1848-1912), the Duchess Blair. Married three times, her first husband, Captain Arthur Kindersley Blair of the 71^st Highland Light Infantry Regiment, died mysteriously in a hunting accident in 1883. In the months leading up to her husband’s death, Mary Caroline had embarked on a love affair with the 3^rd Duke of Sutherland. Rumour swirled around the untimely death and, according to one writer ‘the Duke was whispered to have been responsible’. When his first wife died in 1889 there was no bar to the Duke wedding his long term mistress. The two caused a major scandal by marrying only four months after the Duchess’ passing. Mary Caroline was branded the  ‘Duchess Blair’ by the Victorian public, the implication being that she was a social climber.

The tale of the Duchess Blair took a further twist with the death of the Duke, since his will left her the majority of the Sutherland inheritance. His natural heirs were incensed, contesting this legacy. During the course of legal proceedings it emerged that the Dowager had destroyed documents, and she was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment. An agreement was eventually reached providing the Dowager with a substantial financial settlement, including the stipulation that the family construct a residence befitting her station. The result, Carbisdale Castle, was built to her exacting standards, and, over a period of time, was gradually furnished with the magnificent collection of statuary and painting being offered in this sale. The Dowager nevertheless remained embittered by her lost inheritance and she constructed the Castle around a tower with clocks on only three sides. The wall without a clock faced Sutherland lands, illustrating the Duchess’ claim that she would not give the family the time of day.

The Castle and its collection were generously donated to its current custodians, the Scottish Youth Hostels Association (SYHA), by Captain Harold Salvesen in 1945, who had inherited it from his father, Colonel Theodore Salvesen. Scots of Norwegian descent, during the Second World War the family gave refuge to King Haakon VII of Norway at Carbisdale. It was here, in 1941, that the Norwegian King signed an agreement with the Soviet Union that Russian troops would vacate Norway after they had liberated the country from Nazi forces. From 1945 to 2010 this historic Castle, complete with a tumultuous history and said to be haunted, operated as a popular youth hostel, under the care of SYHA.

The Collection comprises an extraordinary narrative sweep which charts the development of European sculpture in the 19^th century, from the elegant Neoclassicism of the early part of the century – exemplified by works such as the Venus Italica after Antonio Canova – to the fantastical Romanticism of the Belle Époque years – seen in marbles such as Pasquale Romanelli’s Andromeda and the Sea Monster. Appropriately, two of the most beautiful sculptures are the Venus by Lawrence Macdonald and the Nymph at the Stream by David Watson Stevenson, two leading Scottish sculptors. Wider British sculpture is represented by Henry Weekes’ The Young Naturalist with its girl with billowing hair and its rocky base with intricately carved seaweeds. Carbisdale is the quintessential Victorian collection, a point underlined by the presence of two charming satyr’s by Emil Wolff, one of Queen Victoria’s favourite artists. The wonderful array of pictures, most of which are quality 19^th-century copies of Old Masters or original British landscapes, hints at the Duchess Blair’s desire to recreate the splendour that she had lost with the death of her husband, whose own Bridgewater Collection, was one of the greatest in Europe.