Lot 507
507
A PAIR OF BRONZE GROUPS OF THE RAPE OF A SABINE WOMAN AND THE ABDUCTION OF PROSERPINA
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A PAIR OF BRONZE GROUPS OF THE RAPE OF A SABINE WOMAN AND THE ABDUCTION OF PROSERPINA

AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA AND GIRARDON, LATE 18TH OR EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF BRONZE GROUPS OF THE RAPE OF A SABINE WOMAN AND THE ABDUCTION OF PROSERPINA
After Giambologna and Girardon, late 18th or early 19th Century
Each on an integrally cast naturalistic base.
Dark reddish brown patina.
23 7/8 and 23½ in. (60.7 and 59.7 cm) high (2)
Provenance
Almost certainly at Horsington Manor, Horsington, Somerset by the 19th century, and by descent in the Bailward family until 2001.
Literature
New York, Knoedler and Co., The French Bronze 1500-1800, 6-27 Nov. 1968, no. 26.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Although taken from two individual sources, these compositions became linked as a decorative pair and were often cast together, particularly in 18th century France. The Rape of a Sabine Woman is after one of Giambologna's most famous marble groups, uunveiled in 1583 and today in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence. The group of the Abduction of Proserpina is taken from the marble by Girardon which was commissioned to adorn the Parterre d'Eau at Versailles in 1699. Interestingly, this latter bronze group appears to come from the same mould as an example included in the French bronzes exhibition in New York in 1968 (loc. cit.), catalogued there as second quarter 18th century.

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