The present lot and the following two lots were made for the altar of the Cooper's Guild of Antwerp in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Antwerp, in 1678. An unsigned terracotta relief in the Musees royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels (cf., Brussels, no. 281, op.cit.), is clearly the modello for the present marble relief of two putti flanking a medallion representing a Cooper at work. The Brussels Catalogue (op.cit.) relates that between 1672-1673, three models were commissioned from Sebastiaan van den Eynde, Ludovicus Willemssens and Artus II Quellinus, for a new altar in marble for the Coopers, intended for the Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Antwerp. The Catalogue says that the altar was built in 1678 based on the design of Willemssens and Artus II, but that only three reliefs from the old altarpiece remain, built into the wall behind the main altar of the Cathedral. The central of these is carved with a wine-press flanked by two putti, which bears a significant resemblance to the Brussels terracotta modello.
A drawing in the Brussels Catalogue (cf., no. 96, op.cit.), shows clearly the influence of the French rocaille style on the work of Kerricx, which is also strongly represented in the execution of the present five marble reliefs.
Guillielmus Kerricx the Elder (Termonde 1652-Antwerp 1719) studied initially with Jean-Baptiste Buys, and probably finished his apprenticeship with Artus I Quellinus. He worked in Paris for three years after finishing his apprenticeship in Belgium. In 1674 he became a Master of the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp. His name does not appear on the Antwerp ledgers for the years 1675-1678, from which it is assumed he was away travelling, but from 1678 onwards, pupils of the Guild were enrolled in his workshop every year.
The discovery of the present five reliefs, two carved with the initials GK, represents an important historical and academic addition to the oeuvre of Kerricx.