A FRENCH GILT-LEAD AND CARRARA MARBLE FOUNTAIN WITH TWO PUTTI AND A SWAN

THE GILT-LEAD ELEMENTS PROBABLY 18TH CENTURY, THE MARBLE ELEMENTS OF A LATER DATE

Details

A FRENCH GILT-LEAD AND CARRARA MARBLE FOUNTAIN WITH TWO PUTTI AND A SWAN
The gilt-lead elements probably 18th Century, the marble elements of a later date
The upper section cast with two putti flaking a swan with outstretched wings and a lowered head, the background issuing various long leaved water plants, above a low moulded carrara marble pedestal and marble shell formed basin above a truncated fluted column support
91in. (231cm.) high, 40in. (102cm.) wide, 32in. (81cm.) deep, approximately

Provenance

With French & Co., New York, June 1964

Lot Essay

The present lot relates to a fountain executed by Jean-Baptiste Tubi in 1672 after designs by Le Brun. The fountain was one from a project for the entrance of the Thetre d'Eau at Versailles. Tubi (1635-1700) was one of the most prominent sculptors of his time and received many royal commissions from Louis XIV. In 1750 the Thetre d'Eau was destroyed and the sculptures were dispersed. Tubi's fountain was later acquired by the National Gallery of Art, Washington (see F. Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries, London, 1987, p. 337, fig. 28.). Other related gilt-lead fountains were sold in the celebrated sale of Leopold Double's Collection, 30 May-1 June 1881, lots 332-334.