Thomas Ridgeway Gould Art

Attr. Bertel Thorvalsden (1770-1844) WINGED CUPID, Italy, 19th Century Provenance: Private Collection, Vienna

This amusing naturalistic sculpture in silver-plated pewter was probably made in the 17th century by Georg Schweigger. Inspired by a model created by another Nuremberg sculptor, Peter Flötner, it bears witness to the persistence during the baroque era of the naturalistic taste that emerged in the Renaissance. Intended as an ornament for some Kunstkammer, or cabinet of curiosities, this sculpture was a great success, as can be seen from the presence of similar works in many European museums. 1. Georg Schweigger Georg Schweigger was a baroque sculptor and medal founder from Nuremberg, known mainly for his small-scale works in stone, carved wood and cast metal. His only large-scale work, the Neptune Fountain, has been in the Petershof Palace, the summer residence of the Tsars near St. Petersburg, since 1797. This monumental sculpture demonstrates his taste for the representation of movement, which we find in this small piece, inspired, as we shall see, by earlier models. 2. The success of a naturalistic theme As is often the case in the history of art, the source of the Dog scratching his ear theme probably comes from an engraving, and more precisely from one made in Strasbourg in 1480 or in Aschaffenburg in 1481 by the Master of the Housebook, an anonymous engraver working in southern Germany at the end of the 15th century. This engraving seems to have been Peter Flötner’s (1490 - 1546) source of inspiration. Peter Flötner was a sculptor and engraver who settled in Nuremberg in 1522. The Louvre Museum also has a gilded lead statuette dated between 1500 and 1515 (on deposit at the Musée de L'Œuvre in Strasbourg), which in turn is thought to have served as a model for other known statuettes. This model was later taken up by the Frenchman Barthélemy Prieur...

Antique bronze sculpture of male nude reading a letter or proclamation. Marble base, 19th century. Unsigned.

Signed and dated: ‘F. Harwood Fecit 1764’ Collections: Probably commissioned by Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon (1743-1827); Probably by descent at Gordon Castle, Banffshire to c.1948; Possibly acquired by Bert Crowther of Syon Lodge, Middlesex; Jacques Hollander (1940-2004); Christie’s, 5 December 2013, lot 101; Private collection; Sotheby’s, 2 July 2019, lot 106 Literature: John Preston Neale, Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales and Scotland, London, 1822, vol.I, unpaginated. This marble copy of an ancient bust in the Musei Capitolini usually identified as Faustina the Younger, the daughter of Antoninus Pius and future wife of Marcus Aurelius, was made in Florence by Francis Harwood in 1764. Harwood was one of the most prolific suppliers of decorative marbles for the Grand Tour market and this finely worked example demonstrates the quality of luxury goods available to travellers to Italy. So often anonymous, this unusually signed and dated example, raises questions about the status of marble copies in the period and of sculptors such as Harwood who are known principally for ornamental work. Harwood’s origins remain obscure. He is documented living in Palazzo Zuccari with Joshua Reynolds and the Irish sculptor Simon Vierpyl at Easter 1752, he had certainly settled permanently in Florence by the following year, when he is recorded working with Joseph Wilton. He was admitted to the Florentine Academy on 12 January 1755 (as pittore Inglese, although he was described as scultore in the matriculation account). After Wilson returned to England in 1755 Harwood appears to have worked in a studio near SS. Annunziata with Giovanni Battista Piamontini who had made life-size copies of The Wrestlers and The Listening Slave for Joseph Leeson in 1754. In 1758 both sculptors were contracted to make a statue and a trophy to complete the decoration of the Porta San Gallo, Harwood completing a statue of Equality, installed the following year. By 1760 Harwood was on the brink of his most productive period as a sculptor, producing copies of celebrated antiquities for the ever-increasing audience of Grand Tour travellers and for the domestic market in London. In 1761 Harwood met the young architect James Adam who was in Italy specifically to make contact with suppliers for Robert Adam’s burgeoning practice back in Britain. The Adams offered a remarkably cohesive design package to their clients, encompassing not just architecture, but fixtures, fittings and furniture as well. Harwood was able to supply the brothers with marbles for their new interiors. At Syon, for example, Harwood produced a full-size copy of Michelangelo’s Bacchus for the new dining room the Adams had designed for Hugh Smythson, 1st Duke of Northumberland. Harwood seems to have also specialised in producing sets of library busts. In 1758 Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton, a distinguished traveller commissioned a set of busts which remain in situ at Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire. It is perhaps no coincidence that the Adam brothers were producing designs for new interiors at Castle Ashby at this date. The set included representations of: Cicero, Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Faustina the Younger, Sappho, Seneca and Homer. Each of these busts Harwood seems to have replicated for multiple patrons, another Adam patron, Thomas Dundas...

Very fine large Neoclassical white marble bust of Arianna wearing a diadem with grape vine in her hair after the antique in Vatican Museum . Ariadne, in Greek mythology (Latin Aria...

This monumental pair of sculptures in "Bardiglio" marble represent Greek Athlete of Discobolo and the Hercules figure with a lion pelt, on a cylindrical base...

Roman marble altar fragment with cupid Provenance: Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910-1996), Paris and Geneva

This monumental pair of sculptures in "Bardiglio" marble represent Greek Athlete of Discobolo and the Hercules figure with a lion pelt, on a cylindrical base...

These four plaques represent either domestic (a horse, two rams) or exotic animals (a rhinoceros and an elephant). Made on slate slabs cut to shape (a rectangle with concave angles), they are all based on the same narrative scheme: in a frame of Egyptian porphyry, an animal in multicoloured marble is represented advancing on a green marble floor, standing out against a black slate background. These plates were made in Italy, probably in Florence or in Rome, during the 18th century. We think that their primary purpose was to decorate the drawers of a cabinet. Like many other compositions in hard stone, these plaques were inspired by engravings that were a widespread decorative repertoire in the workshops. Three of the plaques presented here were directly inspired by works by Antonio Tempesta (1555 - 1630): the Rhinoceros, the Polish Horse...

Standing figure of Julius Caesar wearing a Tunic and holding a billowing drapery with a composition marble square-section pedestal. . The other figure is of Hannibal. Provenance fro...

Italian 19th Century marble bust depicting the young Emperor Octavian. The sculpture, carved in white Carrara marble, is an exquisite example of neoclassical works and shows a fascin...

This muscular male torso probably comes from a larger relief, which would have decorated the front part of a sarcophagus. It likely represents the figure of a satyr, standing, with t...