A BRONZE OIL LAMP IN THE FORM OF A SPHINX

Details
A BRONZE OIL LAMP IN THE FORM OF A SPHINX
WORKSHOP OF ANDREA RICCIO, PADUAN, EARLY 16TH CENTURY

The head and back inset with a well
Blackish brown patina with extensive black lacquer, struck with C couronné poinçon on the side of the body
4 7/8in. (12.5cm.) high
Provenance
With Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd., London, 1979
Literature
A. Radcliffe 'Ricciana' The Burlington Magazine, CXXIV, 1982, p. 412-24
C. Avery, Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in the Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, 1993, no. 2 (with earlier literature and list of casts)

Lot Essay

The C couronneé poinçon was a tax mark used between March 1745 and February 1749 on any alloy using the metal copper.

Of the many versions, including several modern after-casts, the present oil lamp stands out as a superb cast of superior quality. In Radcliffe's definitive article, he divides the many versions into three groups of variant models, with this type falling into the first category "In this, the sphinx wears a curious helmet-like headdress flanked by ram's horns, and has a face of a distinctly masculine cast" (p. 418).