拍品專文
Niccolò Roccatagliata, flourished 1593-1636
When the English edition of Wilhelm von Bode's influential book, The Italian Bronze Statuettes of the Renaissance was published in 1908, there was no mention of the Venetian sculptor Niccolò Roccatagliata. Surprising as this might seem today, it remains true that an astonishingly small number of documents and extant works survive which can help us to re-create the oeuvre of someone who is now considered to be one of the most important producers of small bronzes in late 16th and early 17th century Venice. By the time of Leo Planiscig's book of 1921 (loc. cit.), a number of autograph works had been identified, and Roccatagliata had already been dubbed the 'Master of the Putto' because of the regularity with which these distinctive figures appeared among his attributed works.
It is into this context that the present andiron can be placed. The pyramidal form and architectural nature of the composition are immediately recognisable as Venetian, but it is the individual decorative elements which point to Roccatagliata as the author. The putti, with their distinctively proportioned bodies, hooded eyes, and curling hair piled up over the forehead are particularly reminiscent of other putti known to be from the hand of Roccatagliata such as those on the documented candlesticks from S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice (illustrated in Planiscig, op. cit., figs. 661-662). In addition, the grotesque faces of the winged satyrs recall the faces of the winged beasts on two andirons attributed by Planiscig to Roccatagliata in the Bargello (op. cit., figs. 663-664).
The provenance of the present andiron is a remarkable one, for there is no reason to believe that it has ever belonged to more than two families in its entire history. The arms displayed on the lowest tier are those of the Soranzo, a family who were among the wealthiest of the Venetian nobility in the 16th and 17th centuries. Although the cartouche with the coat-of-arms was cast separately, it is known that the larger foundries of Venice were not required to work on commission only, so a bronze such as this could have been held in stock, and the arms applied only when it was known who the eventual owner would be. The facture of the cartouche, which is entirely consistent with the rest of the piece, supports this hypothesis.
When the 3rd Earl of Bute was travelling through Italy, he enjoyed a protracted sojourn in Venice from December of 1769 until the spring of 1771. It is known that during this time he purchased a large portion of the Soranzo library (Russell, op. cit., p. 162), and it is almost certain that he acquired the present andiron and its pendant now in the Collection of Sir Brinsley Ford, from the same source. On his return to England, Bute commissioned Robert Adam to design pedestals for these andirons and for another pair probably bought at the same time (see lot 28). Adam also added candle-branches and nozzles to the andirons, thereby transforming them into candelabra which could be placed in niches of the 'Withdrawing Room' at Luton Park. One bronze from each pair of andirons, and the accompanying pedestals were immortalised in the 1774 engraving reproduced in Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam.1779 pl. VIII
The history of the andiron therefore appears to be complete: from the foundry in Venice to the Soranzo family, whose situation was such that they offered it in the 18th century to a visiting member of the British political establishment. Ensconced by Adam in its new surroundings at Luton Park, the andiron subsequently passed to Mount Stuart.
When the English edition of Wilhelm von Bode's influential book, The Italian Bronze Statuettes of the Renaissance was published in 1908, there was no mention of the Venetian sculptor Niccolò Roccatagliata. Surprising as this might seem today, it remains true that an astonishingly small number of documents and extant works survive which can help us to re-create the oeuvre of someone who is now considered to be one of the most important producers of small bronzes in late 16th and early 17th century Venice. By the time of Leo Planiscig's book of 1921 (loc. cit.), a number of autograph works had been identified, and Roccatagliata had already been dubbed the 'Master of the Putto' because of the regularity with which these distinctive figures appeared among his attributed works.
It is into this context that the present andiron can be placed. The pyramidal form and architectural nature of the composition are immediately recognisable as Venetian, but it is the individual decorative elements which point to Roccatagliata as the author. The putti, with their distinctively proportioned bodies, hooded eyes, and curling hair piled up over the forehead are particularly reminiscent of other putti known to be from the hand of Roccatagliata such as those on the documented candlesticks from S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice (illustrated in Planiscig, op. cit., figs. 661-662). In addition, the grotesque faces of the winged satyrs recall the faces of the winged beasts on two andirons attributed by Planiscig to Roccatagliata in the Bargello (op. cit., figs. 663-664).
The provenance of the present andiron is a remarkable one, for there is no reason to believe that it has ever belonged to more than two families in its entire history. The arms displayed on the lowest tier are those of the Soranzo, a family who were among the wealthiest of the Venetian nobility in the 16th and 17th centuries. Although the cartouche with the coat-of-arms was cast separately, it is known that the larger foundries of Venice were not required to work on commission only, so a bronze such as this could have been held in stock, and the arms applied only when it was known who the eventual owner would be. The facture of the cartouche, which is entirely consistent with the rest of the piece, supports this hypothesis.
When the 3rd Earl of Bute was travelling through Italy, he enjoyed a protracted sojourn in Venice from December of 1769 until the spring of 1771. It is known that during this time he purchased a large portion of the Soranzo library (Russell, op. cit., p. 162), and it is almost certain that he acquired the present andiron and its pendant now in the Collection of Sir Brinsley Ford, from the same source. On his return to England, Bute commissioned Robert Adam to design pedestals for these andirons and for another pair probably bought at the same time (see lot 28). Adam also added candle-branches and nozzles to the andirons, thereby transforming them into candelabra which could be placed in niches of the 'Withdrawing Room' at Luton Park. One bronze from each pair of andirons, and the accompanying pedestals were immortalised in the 1774 engraving reproduced in Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam.1779 pl. VIII
The history of the andiron therefore appears to be complete: from the foundry in Venice to the Soranzo family, whose situation was such that they offered it in the 18th century to a visiting member of the British political establishment. Ensconced by Adam in its new surroundings at Luton Park, the andiron subsequently passed to Mount Stuart.