A GEORGE III ARTIFICIAL 'COADE' STONE MODEL OF VENUS

In 1799 Eleanor Coade entered into partnership with her cousin John Sealy and the firm then traded as 'Coade and Sealy' until Sealy's death in 1813 when it reverted to Coade. The current lot is similar but not identical to some of the models produced by the sculptor John Bacon and illustrated in the 1784 catalogue. Alison Kelly, (op cit, p.69) illustrates an identical figure and discusses two Venus statues in the Coade Gallery, the designs for which must come from a book with Italian text, "131 The Venus Callipygis uscita dal bagno - Nell palazzo Ffarnese" and a second which possibly relates to the current lot "132 A Statue of Venus in atto d'andare al Bagno".