BY THE MASTER I.O.F.F., LATE 15TH CENTURY

Details

A GILT-BRONZE SWORD POMMEL
BY THE MASTER I.O.F.F., LATE 15TH CENTURY
The recto depicting Aridane on Naxos; the verso depicting The Judgement of Paris; both sides signed with initials to the lower edge '.IO.F.F'.
Some wear to gilding.
3 in. (7.6 cm.) diam.

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
J. G. Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues - Sculpture, London, 1931, p. 114, no. S 310.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

Presented in this lot are two images conceived by the Master IO.F.F. who, it is now thought, is Giovanni Fonduli of Cremona. The identity of the artist has been a matter of debate for some time, but the existence of a small bronze figure of a seated goddess signed 'Iohannes Foundulini Founduli' in the Wallace Collection, London has given strong support to this theory.

The juxtaposing of the images of the Judgement of Paris with the Ariadne on Naxos was clearly something that interested the artist as is clear by the survival of other pommels with the same scenes, including one in the Wallace Collection, London (Mann, loc. cit.), monogrammed by the same artist.

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