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Lot Essay
Bronze groups of rearing horses in the manner of Francesco Fanelli are recorded on both chenets and Mains à papiers or presse-papiers in 18th Century inventories. A pair of the latter with closely related horses are described in the Inventory taken following the death of the banker Nicolas Beaujeon in January 1787. Placed upon a Louis XV lacquer bureau plat in the grand salon on the first floor of his Parisien hôtel, now the Elysée Palace, they were listed as:- Deux petits chevaux de bronze en mains à papiers sur soc (i.e. socle) de cuivre doré..... These were subsequently sold from the Riahi Collection, Christie's New York, 2 November 2000, lot 9.
Francesco Fanelli, a Florentine sculptor, worked in Genoa from 1609-10, before moving to England, where he was patronised by both Henry, Prince of Wales and his brother Charles I. In 1642, Fanelli left England for Paris, where he died in 1668. Although Fanelli's oeuvre is scantly documented, he appears to have specialised in small scale, darkly patinated bronzes, primarily of equestrian subjects (see J. Pope-Hennessy, Essays on Italian Sculpture, London, 1968, pp.166-171).
Francesco Fanelli, a Florentine sculptor, worked in Genoa from 1609-10, before moving to England, where he was patronised by both Henry, Prince of Wales and his brother Charles I. In 1642, Fanelli left England for Paris, where he died in 1668. Although Fanelli's oeuvre is scantly documented, he appears to have specialised in small scale, darkly patinated bronzes, primarily of equestrian subjects (see J. Pope-Hennessy, Essays on Italian Sculpture, London, 1968, pp.166-171).