.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Jean-Baptiste Pigalle 1714-1785
The marble originals for these bronzes were acquired by the Louvre in 1884 and 1910. The model of the little boy dated 1749 was exhibited at the Salon of 1750- it was a portrait of the only son of the financier Jean Paris de Montmartel. There is an engraving of Montmartel by L.S. Cathelin after Maurice Nicholas Quentin de la Tour and Charles Nicolas Cochin showing his Enfant à la cage on a lavish ormolu base standing on a Louis XV commode (J.-R. Gaborit, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, 1985, p. 50). Montmartel's sculpture was bought back by Pigalle at the marquis de Brunoy's sale in 1776 and passed through several collections in the nineteenth century until it was given to the Louvre in 1884. Several casts were made in bronze during Pigalle's lifetime- one belonged to the architect Jacques Germain Soufflot and was sold in the sale after his death (20 November 1780, no. 122) It was resold from the collection of the comte de Merle (1 March 1784, no. 113). According to Rocheblave (Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, 1919, p. 293), Pigalle's neice, Mme Devismes, owned another example.
L'enfant à oiseau et à la pomme was conceived as a pendant to L'enfant à la cage in the last year's of Pigalle's life. He had himself brought back Montmartel's marble in 1776. The little girl holds the bird taken from the boy's empty cage and offers him the apple in exchange. Pigalle's original marble of the little girl was also inherited by his niece, Mme Devismes and was sold on 17 March 1888. It is now in a private collection in England. The Louvre's example, one of at least two contemporary copies, passed through several collections in the nineteenth century, including that of the comtesse d'Yvon, before being acquired in 1910.
Several casts in bronze of both sculptures were made either just in Pigalle's lifetime or shortly after his death. A pair was sold in the Marin sale, 22 March 1790, lot 708, and ther was another pair in the Grandpré sale in 1809. The Grandpré pair was possibly the examples in the Rodolphe Kann Collection (The Rodolphe Kann Collection, 1907, vol. III, nos. 149 and 150). There has been some confusion about their subsequent history. Réau (Pigalle, 1950, p. 164) suggests that the pair now in the Huntington Collection, San Marino (R. Wark, Sculpture in the Huntington Collection, Rev. edn., 1974, pp.71-72, pls. XXVII and XXVIII) were in fact the Kann pair but the two pairs have completely different bases. Rocheblave, like Réau, (op.cit, p. 296) suggests that the Kann pair passed onto the J. Pierpont Morgan Collection after their sale in Paris. However they are not included in Bode's catalogue of the Morgan bronzes published in 1910 and the Huntington bronzes were acquired in 1911 by Mrs. Collis P. Huntington. Most of Morgan's bronzes were sold by Duveen in 1917. It seems almost certain that Morgan had another pair, which are the ones sold from a family collection, 22 June 1989, lot 46, which he either gave to his sister, Mrs. Morgan Hamilton, before 1910 or acquired them thereafter.
Thomire made a series of casts in 1823, and between 1848 and 1853 another series was issued by two bronze manufacturers.
The marble originals for these bronzes were acquired by the Louvre in 1884 and 1910. The model of the little boy dated 1749 was exhibited at the Salon of 1750- it was a portrait of the only son of the financier Jean Paris de Montmartel. There is an engraving of Montmartel by L.S. Cathelin after Maurice Nicholas Quentin de la Tour and Charles Nicolas Cochin showing his Enfant à la cage on a lavish ormolu base standing on a Louis XV commode (J.-R. Gaborit, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, 1985, p. 50). Montmartel's sculpture was bought back by Pigalle at the marquis de Brunoy's sale in 1776 and passed through several collections in the nineteenth century until it was given to the Louvre in 1884. Several casts were made in bronze during Pigalle's lifetime- one belonged to the architect Jacques Germain Soufflot and was sold in the sale after his death (20 November 1780, no. 122) It was resold from the collection of the comte de Merle (1 March 1784, no. 113). According to Rocheblave (Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, 1919, p. 293), Pigalle's neice, Mme Devismes, owned another example.
L'enfant à oiseau et à la pomme was conceived as a pendant to L'enfant à la cage in the last year's of Pigalle's life. He had himself brought back Montmartel's marble in 1776. The little girl holds the bird taken from the boy's empty cage and offers him the apple in exchange. Pigalle's original marble of the little girl was also inherited by his niece, Mme Devismes and was sold on 17 March 1888. It is now in a private collection in England. The Louvre's example, one of at least two contemporary copies, passed through several collections in the nineteenth century, including that of the comtesse d'Yvon, before being acquired in 1910.
Several casts in bronze of both sculptures were made either just in Pigalle's lifetime or shortly after his death. A pair was sold in the Marin sale, 22 March 1790, lot 708, and ther was another pair in the Grandpré sale in 1809. The Grandpré pair was possibly the examples in the Rodolphe Kann Collection (The Rodolphe Kann Collection, 1907, vol. III, nos. 149 and 150). There has been some confusion about their subsequent history. Réau (Pigalle, 1950, p. 164) suggests that the pair now in the Huntington Collection, San Marino (R. Wark, Sculpture in the Huntington Collection, Rev. edn., 1974, pp.71-72, pls. XXVII and XXVIII) were in fact the Kann pair but the two pairs have completely different bases. Rocheblave, like Réau, (op.cit, p. 296) suggests that the Kann pair passed onto the J. Pierpont Morgan Collection after their sale in Paris. However they are not included in Bode's catalogue of the Morgan bronzes published in 1910 and the Huntington bronzes were acquired in 1911 by Mrs. Collis P. Huntington. Most of Morgan's bronzes were sold by Duveen in 1917. It seems almost certain that Morgan had another pair, which are the ones sold from a family collection, 22 June 1989, lot 46, which he either gave to his sister, Mrs. Morgan Hamilton, before 1910 or acquired them thereafter.
Thomire made a series of casts in 1823, and between 1848 and 1853 another series was issued by two bronze manufacturers.