FRENCH OR FLEMISH, LATE 17TH OR EARLY 18TH CENTURY

THE SPHINX, A CREATURE TYPICALLY REPRESENTED AS HAVING A LION'S BODY AND THE HEAD AND BREASTS OF A WOMAN, WAS THOUGHT BY THE GREEKS TO BE A REPOSITORY OF ARCANE WISDOM, AND IS PERHAPS MOST FAMOUSLY REMEMBERED FOR THE LEGEND OF OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX. PAIRS OF SPHINXES BECAME POPULAR AS DECORATIVE OBJECTS IN THE 17TH CENTURY, AND CONTINUED TO BE FASHIONABLE THROUGHOUT THE 18TH CENTURY AS WELL. THE PRESENT PAIR, WITH THEIR ROBUST PROPORTIONS, ARE BAROQUE IN FEELING AND MUST PRE-DATE THE MORE DELICATE EXAMPLES OF THE MID TO LATE 18TH CENTURY.