Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art
Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art
Auction Closed
December 3, 02:41 PM GMT
Estimate
18,000 - 25,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA (1529-1608)
PROBABLY NORTHERN EUROPEAN, 17TH/ EARLY 18TH CENTURY
LION ATTACKING A BULL AND LION ATTACKING A HORSE
bronze, on gilt metal mounted veined black and cream marble bases
the Lion attacking a Horse after a Hellenistic original;
the Lion and Horse inscribed: 18652B and: 137-1 to the underside, and each base incised: CC51 to the underside, one with remnants of a label
bronzes: 20 by 27cm., 7⅞ by 10⅝in. and 21.5 by 25cm., 8½ by 9⅞in.
bases: 10.5 by 27 by 26cm., 4⅛ by 10⅝ by 10¼in. each
The present bronze casts, with slightly rough, textured surfaces and various casting flaws, are reminiscent of casts by Anglo-Italian sculptor Francesco Fanelli, active in the first half of the 17th century. Compare to a Rearing Horse, sold in these rooms, 2 July 2019, lot 65. The delineation of the lion's fur on the group with the horse could however indicate a possible German facture - the technique for indicating hair with precise horizontal incisions was practised in Renaissance Augsburg, and continued into the 17th century. Comparison for these striated surfaces can also be found in works by the Master of the Bull Hunt, the enigmatic master of Baroque small scale sculpture. In a recent article on the Master, Jennifer Montagu highlights the use of these surfaces in the Master's work. The Master of the Bull Hunt, however, is yet to be identified: although Montagu proposes a Sicilian origin, he is traditionally said to have been Northern European or possibly English (op. cit., pp. 103-111).
RELATED LITERATURE
J. Montagu, 'The Master of the Bull Hunt: An Enigma', in J. Warren (ed.), Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in and around the Peter Marino Collection, London, 2013, pp. 96-113
