A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE CROUCHING VENUS

Property from a NEW YORK ESTATE Bequeathed to AN EASTERN INSTITUTION

Details

A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE CROUCHING VENUS
FRENCH, EARLY 18TH CENTURY, AFTER ANTOINE COYSEVOX

The naked female figure resting on a turtle holding a drape across her loins, on a naturalistic ground-13¼in. (33.5cm.) high, rich reddish brown patina with extensive black lacquer

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
F. Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th Centuries, London, 1993, Vol IV, p. 54

Lot Essay

This exquisite cast is a reduction of Coysevox's marble for Versailles which was inspired by the Antique marble (now in the Borghese Gallery). Coysevox added the turtle and altered the pose and position of the drapery. The Versailles marble of the Crouching Venus was subsequently replaced by a bronze cast which was made by Joseph Vinasche in 1688-89 for the gardens at Marly.