A LOUIS XIV BRONZE STATUETTE OF VENUS PLAYING WITH CUPID

EARLY 18TH CENTURY, IN THE STYLE OF PHILIPPE BERTRAND (1663-1724)

Details

A LOUIS XIV BRONZE STATUETTE OF VENUS PLAYING WITH CUPID
Early 18th Century, in the style of Philippe Bertrand (1663-1724)
Venus, seated in her chariot, holds the infant Cupid with her right hand, in her left she dangles a bow above Cupid's head, an eagle and a dove appear at her feet, on an integral rectangular base
17in. (44cm.) high

Provenance

Anonamous sale, Sotheby's London, 8 July 1993, lot 76

Lot Essay

The present group relates to Bertrand's bronze group depicting the Rape of Helen, circa 1700-1, which is now at the Chteau de Fontainebleau. The close similarites include the tiara and the top knot in Venus' hair, the rolled drapery, the sandals and the chariot/boat (F. Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th Centuries, The reign of Louis XIV, A-F, Oxford, 1977, p. 51, no. 3).
Other known casts of this model are in the Hermitage, Leningrad, and in the Wallace Collection, which mentions an additional cast of this bronze in the Leboeuf de Montgermont sale in Paris, 1919, no. 352 (not illustrated), (J.G. Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues, Sculpture...[Supplement], rev'd ed. by J. Ingamells, London, 1981, S194, pl. 51).